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BY IRA HILL, A. M. 



f Study Nature; nature is a friend of truth" Young. 



c^ ofCc 





Ealttntot*: 

PUBLISHED BY N. G. MAXWELL. 

John />. Toy, print. 
1823. 



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KJ 



DISTRICT OF MARYLAND, to wit: 

BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-seventh day of August, 
*********** in the forty-eighth year of the Independence of the United 
* oU AT * * States of America, Ira Hill, of the said district, hath deposi- 

fgaSemtf ted in this office » the tit,e of a book » the ri g bt whereof he 
w claims as athor, in the words following, to wit: 

"An Abstract of a New Theory of the Formation of the Earth, &c By 
Ira Hill. A. M. 'Study nature; nature is a friend to truth.— YoungS" 

In conformity to an act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
"An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps 
charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during 
the times therein mentioned;" and also the act, entitled, "An act supple- 
mentary to the act, entitled, 'An act for the encouragement of learning, by 
securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprie- 
tors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned,' and extending 
the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching his- 
torical and other prints *" 

PHILIP MOORE, 
Clerk of the District of Maryland, 



TO 



GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON. 

Without even your own consent, and 
without any other claims to your notice than 
those arising from an admiration of your vir- 
tues, I have ventured to place your name in 
the front of a work, the result of those hours 
of leisure that have been snatched from a la- 
borious employment; a work that has for many 
years occupied my solitary studies. Retired 
as you now are from the desolating tempest of 
a military and the scarcely less exhausting 
commotions of political life, I can but flatter 
myself, that this intrusion will be pardoned — 
I can but flatter myself, that while the hand of 
the American Cincinnatus cultivates that soil 
which he formerly so gloriously and so success- 
fully defended by his sword, he will rejoice to 
find so many spontaneous testimonies furnished 
by nature to the truth of the divine records, 
as are grouped together in the pages of this 
Volume, all leading to one grand result, that the 
Divine Being whom we both worship, is alike 
consistent in his works and in his word. 



Vi DEDICATION. 

That your countrymen may properly esti- 
mate your virtues, and testify their sense of 
services so important, by claiming for their 
candidate the first honours in the gift of a free 
people, is the sincere wish of your unknown 
friend and countryman, 

THE AUTHOR. 



Contents. 



Formation of the Earth, ----- 13^ 
First Proof of Revolutions on the surface of the 

Globe, - - - - - - - -31 

Proofs that these Revolutions have been Sudden, 35 
The Position of the various Strata of Rocks, 

Shells, and Alluvion, ----- 37 

The Formation of the various Strata, 41 
The various colours of Marble, - - - -44 
Veins of Primitive Rocks perforating the Strata of 

secondary ones, ------ 45 

The Mines of Salt, 47 

The Caverns in the Earth, - - - - 49 

Of Lands which have sunk, 50 
The many Islands which have arisen from the 

Ocean, 51 

Of Earthquakes, - . - - - - - 53 

Of Volcanoes, 54 

Of Mountains, - - - - - - -55 

Of the Masses of Shells deposited on the sides of 

Mountains, ------ ~ 57 

Of the Ocean receding from the Lands, - 58 

Alluvial Formations, - - - - 60 

Of the Alluvial Deposits made by the General 

Deluge, - - -'- - - -67 

Of Inundations subsequent to the General Deluge, 82 

The Flood of Oxyges, ib. 

Flood in Ethiopia, - - - - - - 84 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

Of the Deucaleon Flood, - . . 86 
A Flood was produced by the rise of the north- 
east part of North America, 88 
The Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, 99 
The Susquehannah, - - - - - 102 
Of the Prairies of North America, - - 120 
Of the Saltness of the Ocean, and of many Lakes, 123 
Change of Climate, &c. - 126 
Of the situation of the Mountains, Seas, and De- 
serts, on the eastern hemisphere, - - 132 
Of the properties and motions of the Atmosphere. 133 

Of the Rainbow, 146 

Longevity of the Antedeluvians, - - 147 

Of the appearance of our Continent, - - 152 

Of the unheal thful state of our Continent, - 155 

Of the Insects, Vegetation, &c. of America, - 159 

The Tides, - - - - - - - 164 

Sir Isaac Newton's Theory of the Tides, - 168 

Explanation of the cause of the Tides, - - 185 
The causes which produce changes in the degrees 

of pressure of the atmosphere, - 190- 



PREFACE. 



In giving the following brief sketch of his 
views of the formation of the earth, rocks, 
mountains, &c. the author is influenced by va- 
rious motives. 

He considers the study of nature of un- 
limited importance to every person, for in all 
the works of God, his glorious attributes are 
displayed; and if we but understand the lan- 
guage in which the volume of nature is written, 
we can at all times draw the richest instruc- 
tions from every page. 

We believe there is nothing in the works of 
God which contradicts his holy word, or there 
is nothing in the works of nature, but what 
perfectly coincides with scripture, and the only 
cause of the great difficulty in reconciling na- 
tural philosophy to scripture is our ignorance 
of one or the other of them. 

The sceptic, the deist, or atheist, in pos- 
session of a few arguments, which he does not 
rightly comprehend, commences an attack on 
the word of God, which he is as ignorant of, 
1* 



& PREFACE. 

as he is of true philosophy. He assails such 
as are totally unacquainted with philosophy, 
and they are often obliged to retire from the 
field, because they have no weapons to defend 
themselves. 

The infidel selects natural events recorded 
in scripture as arguments against the truth of 
the sacred volume, and if he cannot reconcile 
what he' now sees with what he there reads, he 
condemns the whole as a forgery or an imposi- 
tion upon mankind. 

There is perhaps no fact recorded in scrip- 
ture, which has been more successfully per- 
verted to confound the multitude, than that of 
the universal deluge. The infidel says, "That 
it is a natural impossibility for the waters to 
cover all the high mountains; and the God of na- 
ture cannot work natural impossibilities." And 
if the waters could have been made to rise so 
high, where have they receded to?" 

To remove many such difficulties is one ob- 
ject of the author. 

The general mass of community, not being 
accustomed to read geological publications, and 
such works in general being voluminous, and 
frequently written in language which they can- 
not comprehend, the common classes of com- 
munity on which the infidel makes his attacks, 
are unwilling to commence so arduous a task ; 



PREFACE. XI 

as to peruse extensive publications, filled with 
terms and phrases of which they are totally 
ignorant. Therefore, the author has endea- 
voured to give his ideas, in as brief and plain 
a manner as possible, that the work may not 
be too long for their perusal, nor too intricate 
for their comprehension. 

The theory he claims as an original one, and 
it is with humble deference to the learned and 
scientific that he submits it to an enlightened 
public. 

The most of the ideas contained in this work, 
have been submitted to the examination of 
those who are an honour to their country, and 
a blessing to the age which is illuminated by 
the splendour of their talents. They did not 
condemn them. A§ this theory was formed 
from observation, and not from perusing the 
works of the learned geologists, they advised, 
"That the facts recorded by Cuvier, Hutton, 
Werner, Playfair, &c. should be examined 
before the work should be submitted to public 
examination. Those authors have been atten- 
tively perused, and the numerous facts which 
they have collected, go so directly to strengthen 
the position we have taken, that it is with con- 
fidence that an abstract of the theory is brought 
to public view. 



Xll PREFACE. 

Drs. Samuel K. Jennings, and James Gray, 
whose philosophical and theological researches, 
are well known in this city, are' the only per- 
sons in this part of the United States w r ho 
have been made acquainted with the principles 
on which the theory is founded, and with the 
facts which are introduced to prove the pre- 
mises correct. These learned gentlemen ap- 
prove of the work, and recommend its publi- 
cation. 

The theory of which this work is an abstract, 
has been written a number of years, the prin- 
cipal heads of which were submitted to the ex- 
amination of several of the distinguished lite- 
rati of the northern section of our country. 
On my arrival here, I had the pleasure of pe- 
rusing a work just published by Dr. H. BL 
Hayden, of this city, which, though we were 
entirely strangers to each other, and never 
heard of each other's views on the subject, goes 
almost directly to prove my theory, and de- 
monstrates, as far as the nature of the subject 
will admit, the effects of the causes, which we 
attempt to explain. The numerous facts which 
he has collected, have thrown much light on 
our subject of which I have availed myself in 
a number of instances, and to his valuable 
work I respectfully refer my readers for 



PREFACE, Xlll 

more proofs of the correctness of my theory, 
than the limits of mine will permit me to notice. 

The author is well aware of the many diffi- 
culties attending the introduction of a work of 
this kind; a work which is in a degree oppos- 
ed to the publications of many who have been 
ranked among the great men of the earth, but 
he is confident that truth, however plain may 
be her apparel and humble her appearance, 
will prevail. 

Though systems of geology almost without 
number have been sent forth into tbe world, 
some of which darken more than they enlighten 
the mind, and instead of guiding the votaries 
of science to the temple of truth, bewilder 
them in the labyrinths of error, yet most of 
the theories have been useful. They have ex- 
cited the human mind to inquiries, induced 
many to enter the extensive field of research, 
and have been the cause of many important 
discoveries. 

Facts are the materials out of which theories 
are to be formed and supported. These mate- 
rials may be so mutilated and changed, as to 
form a theory of almost any shape; but that 
theory must be best which is raised from the 
most simple facts, and supported by such as 
are gathered from the remotest parts of the 
earth. If we can construct an edifice of the 



XIV PREFACE. 

materials brought from the four quarters of the 
globe, and from the different isles of the ocean, 
and without alteration have them all unite as 
if wrought by the most skilful hand — Such an 
edifice will remain unshaken, however strong 
may be the force of prejudice, or violent the 
blasts of vain and false philosophy. Facts like 
witnesses have been tortured to testify in op- 
position to each other, and often in opposition 
'to reason and truth. But if they will rise vo- 
luntarily and simply affirm in unison with each 
other, ought they not to be believed? If the 
relics and alluvia of Siberia, and of the other 
extensive section of Asia, voluntarily unite and 
testify with those of Africa, and the many 
which exist in Europe, and all appear in per- 
fect harmony with the numerous phenomena of 
America, though contrary to theories formed 
from the facts of a small province, or kingdom, 
ought we not to believe? If the remains of ma- 
rine and land animals, which are found on 
plains and mountains, and those which are im- 
beded in masses of solid rocks, come forth, 
with the bones of antedeluvian men, which are 
found in our own country; if all of these, with 
various other phenomena which have obstructed 
the progress of geological inquiry, be not only 
removed, but join in support of our theory, 
who will not be convinced of its correctness? 



PREFACE. XV 

In a work so limited, it cannot be expect- 
ed that we shall prove to a demonstration all 
propositions which may be advanced, but we 
calculate to give some substantial facts in proof 
of every statement. 

We will take the word of God for our guide, 
reason and philosophy for our attendants, and 
supported by the m^ny facts which have been 
brought to light, we trust to the candour of an 
enlightened public, and bid defiance to the 
ridicule of the sceptic, the scoffs of the theo- 
rist, the frowns of 7 the superstitious, and the 
malice of the atheist. 

The envious critic whose life is devoted to 
poisoning or destroying the fruits of others' la- 
bours, may writhe his hydra folds round every 
word, yet in an enlightened public we have con- 
fidence, and the public is the tribunal to which 
we are willing to submit the publication. 



FORMATION 



OP 



Q 



In the beginning God created the heaven 
and the earth.* The heaven here referred 
to, was doubtless the shining worlds which 
range the unlimited fields of ether, and which 
are so many grand theatres in which the glo- 
rious attributes of Deity are displayed. In 
the numbers of brilliant spheres, which then 
adorned the skies, we believe were included 
our sun, and all the planets which revolve 
around this splendid centre, except the earth 
and moon. But, since the period when God 
commanded the earth to appear, other planets, 
both primary and secondary, may have been 
created, and at the Almighty's command, 
more may spring into existence, and become 
the abodes of intelligence. Millions of splen- 



Gen. i. i. 



14 

did systems may have adorned the heavens, 
and experienced the munificence of an all-wise 
Creator, and bountiful Benefactor, for myri- 
ads of centuries, before the Author of univer- 
sal nature saw fit in his providence to form 
the sphere on which we live. From the word 
of God, we learn, that the heavens were cre- 
ated before the earth,* and no reference is 
given as to the space of time which intervened 
before our planet assumed its form. 

The earth was without form and void.\ 
This is indicative of the state in which the 
matter composing our earth existed, before 
God moulded it to be a habitable world. 
The matter which composes our sphere, then 
existed in a chaotic state, floating in the ex- 
panse of ether, unaffected by the laws of 
gravitation. 

When God gave to this matter laws, which 
bound one particle to another, they rushed 
together, and a sphere was formed. The 
denser particles were most attracted, moved 
fastest towards the centre of the agitated 
mass, and propelled the lighter towards the 
surface. The particles composing the water 
being of less density than those of the earth, 
were forced towards the surface and covered 

* God created the heaven and the earth* Gen i. 1. 
t Gen. i. 2. 



15 

the face of the globe. Darkness was on the 
face of the deep* The deep here alluded to 
could have been nothing but the expanse of 
waters which covered our sphere, and there 
being no light, we must conclude that the at- 
mosphere, which is the medium of light, was 
not formed, or existed in so turbid a state, as 
not to admit the rays of light. 

The spirit of God moved upon the face of 
the water s.\ This passage clearly shows, 
that our planet was then covered with water. 
It is rational to conclude, that the atmosphere 
at that time was not so completely formed as 
to be transparent. The particles composing 
the fluid that surrounds the globe, were min- 
gled witH the denser ones, when our sphere 
was formed, or when the matter composing 
it consolidated. Then by the pressure of 
denser ones they were forced to rise. The 
aqueous particles were first propelled to cover 
the solid parts of the earth, and the aeriform 
substances, according to their densities, em- 
braced the waters without, as the waters en- 
closed the solids within. 

And God said, Let there be light; and there 
was light.% At that time the atmosphere 
had become so divested of opaque particles, 

* Geo. i. 2. t Ibid. i Gen, i. 3. 



16 

as to admit the rays of the sun to the surface 
of the earth. But it appears that the atmos- 
phere did not for some time become so clear 
or transparent as to admit the feebler light of 
the stars. For, some time after God said, Let 
there he light, which was emitted from the 
gun, he caused the stars to shine.* 

This would have been the case, had our 
globe and its garments been formed in the 
manner we have stated. A length of time 
would have been required for the finer parti- 
cles, which compose our atmosphere, to be 
separated from the grosser ones, which are in 
the earth and on its surface. It is rational to 
suppose, that the atmosphere for some time 
would be loaded with vapours that the re- 
flected light of the planets, and the twinkling 
rays of the stars, could not reach the surface 
of the earth; but the more copious beams of 
the sun would sooner perforate the vapours, 
and give day to half the sphere, as now we 
are not deprived of his light, though our 
hemisphere it thickly shrouded in clouds. 

Thus far do reason and revelation perfectly 
coincide; and further still does the sacred 
Word prove the accuracy of the positions we 
have taken. That the earth was first covered 
with waters, appears evident from the ninth 

* Gen. i. 14. 



17 

verse of the history of the creation. — And 
God said, Let the waters under the heavens be 
gathered together in one place; — and God call- 
ed the dry land earth* and the gathering toge- 
ther of the waters called he seas.* 

When the earth by the command of the 
Almighty, was fashioned to a sphere, there 
were no rocks nor stones in the whole con- 
fused mass. This appears from many facts, 
and from reason. Many rocks contain animal 
and vegetable remains. f The various species 
whose relics are deposited in rocks, must have 
had an existence previous to the existence of 
the rocks in their present form. If the rocks 
were formed when the world was, these ani- 
mals must have lived before the world was 
created. Animal and vegetable remains are 
found only in rocks termed secondary. That 
those denominated primitive, though they 
contain no relics, were not formed as they 
now exist, when the world was created, ap- 
pears from reason. 

If matter, when in a chaotic state, possessed 
power of attraction sufficient to form rocks, 
those rocks would have attracted more mat- 

* Gen. i. 9. 

t Animal and vegetable remains being so frequently found in solid 
masses of rocks, in almost every section of the world; and so frequent- 
ly mentioned by ail geologists, that it is unnecessary to make any 
direct reference to prove what cau be doubted by none. 

2* 



18 

ter to them, the attraction would have in- 
creased in proportion to the matter consoli- 
dated, a world would have been formed im- 
mediately; and all the rocks would have been 
precipitated to the centre of the globe. There- 
fore, if the primitive rocks existed before the 
law was given, which binds one particle to 
another, the rocks being denser than the 
earthy particles, would leave the latter nearer 
the surface, and no primitive rocks would be 
found near the circumference of our globe. 
But immense masses of primitive rocks are 
found not only on lighter particles beneath the 
earth's surface, but even on the surface, and 
they crown the summits of the highest moun- 
tains. These could not have been their situ- 
ation, had they existed in their present state 
when the globe was summoned to appear as 
an habitation for the living. Therefore, we 
shall conclude that no rocks were formed when 
the world was, but that the denser particles 
were nearer the centre, and the rarer pro- 
pelled towards the surface, and the whole 
covered with water as with a mantle, and the 
still rarer particles which compose the at- 
mosphere, united above to warm, protect, and 
enlighten the whole. 

Having premised the manner in which we 
conceive it pleased the Almighty to fashion 



19 

our world, when he called it from chaos, it 
remains to point out the various causes which 
he employed as his agents, to produce the 
many effects now witnessed in every country 
on the globe. 

All the elements are servants of God. They 
all have laws by which they are regulated, 
and bounds to which they are limited; beyond 
which they never pass, but by his supreme 
command. God works by means in the na- 
tural as well as in the moral world. When 
he had formed the world by his laws, when 
darkness was on the face of the deep, when 
the spirit of the Lord moved on the face of the 
waters, when he would cause the dry land to 
appear, the means which the great Architect 
of nature would employ to accomplish so great 
a work must be worthy of the attention of all. 
Water, fire, and air,* are the agents by 
which the Almighty carries on his wonderful 
operation on our sphere. In the different 
combinations, and motions of these servants of 
God, we are to look for the causes of all the 
effects and catastrophes which our planet has 
experienced. The water and air, encompass- 
ing the solid parts of the earth, equally affect- 

* In the word air we comprehend the various gassss which are 
found to unite in the atmosphere. As our object is to give a brief view 
of our theory, in a manner that can be comprehended by all, we shall 
avoid running into chymical minuti<e. 



20 

ed its surface, that we cannot conceive that 
either one, or both of these could have pro- 
duced the great effects which we witness in the 
solid parts of the earth, in every section of 
country which has been explored. 

Then it is to heat or fire that we are to look 
for thegiowerful agent which has often revolu- 
tionized our world, raised lands from beneath 
the ocean, elevated mountains, formed many of 
the rocks and caused the surface of our globe 
to assume so different an appearance, from 
what it bore when the Lord commanded the 
dry land to appear. Water and air have pro- 
duced some changes on the surface of the earth, 
to which we shall occasionally refer, but as fire 
has been the most active agent, in bringing 
about the revolutions which are visible to every 
inquiring mind that surveys the works of na- 
ture, to that we shall assign the principal 
effects which appear, and by that we shall at- 
tempt to account for many of the phenomena 
which have excited the attention of the philo- 
sophic world. 

When we survey the surface of our planet 
we cannot indulge a thought, but it has under- 
gone many great, and important changes. The 
rocks, the mountains, the hills, and vallies^ 
the plains, and the ocean itself, declare iu 
The changes wrought by water and air, have 



21 

been small, compared to those which are the 
effects of fire. Water and air continue their 
operations daily, in depressing mountains, and 
elevating vallies. The shattered state of rocks, 
precipices, and mountains, declares that what 
gave them their positions, was sudden, violent, 
and from beneath. This cause was fire. 

Heat causes matter to expand, and if once 
excited will increase in power till it forces its 
w r ay to a rarer medium. When the world was 
fashioned, the concussion of particles of matter 
in consolidating would produce heat. This 
heat generated, perhaps, several miles beneath 
the bed of the ocean by its own force, prepared 
combustion around its focal point, and bound 
by a thick covering of earth and water, must 
have acquired an immense power before it 
could raise its incumbent load. The matter 
which was most exposed to this vast furnace 
of nature, became liquified. When the ocean 
of fire within hacj acquired strength to elevate 
the mass above, the bottom of the ocean was 
raised to mountainous heights, and the liqui- 
fied matter, as it was exposed to water and 
air, consolidated into masses of what are deno- 
minated primitive rocks. Thus were formed 
the masses of granite, which are the basis of 
the most elevated lands, which crown the sum- 
mits of the highest mountains, and are scatter- 



22 

ed in precipices, and in less fragments over 
various parts of the earth. As the bottom of 
the ocean was raised, and the rarified parti- 
cles ascended into the atmosphere, the waters 
rushed into the vast abyss, and mountains, 
hills, and plains, were supported on the shat- 
tered arches. Thus the waters were gather- 
ed together, and thus the dry land was made 
to appear. 

Rocks have been formed by three different 
processes of nature. 

1st. Those denominated primitive, were 
formed by heat, as has been stated, when the 
matter was so exposed to internal fires as to 
become liquified. 

2nd. Those ranked under the appellation 
of secondary rocks, or such as contain the 
relics of animals or vegetables, were formed 
by particles becoming denser than water set- 
tling to the bottom of the ocean, and long re- 
maining there in a quiescent state, consolidated 
into massive strata,* Shells of fishes, and 

* Many substances denominated solids will float for a length of time 
in the water, and then sink. The matter composing such bodies are 
of a greater weight than the same bulk of water, but they are buoyed 
up by the air which is contained in the pores. The action of water 
on the particles, contracts them and expels the air, that the surface is 
diminished, and not containing a sufficient quantity of the fluid rarer 
than the water to support it, the body, according to the laws of gra- 
vitation, is drawn to the bottom of the water. Water in some bodies, 
as ib ice in the spring, expels the air by pressing into the pores, and 



23 

even fishes themselves become embodied in 
these strata before they were raised from 
the bed of the ocean. 

3d. Are those which are formed in the earth 
by similar particles of matter coming hi con- 
tact, by agency of water, or otherwise, long re- 
maining at rest till particle adheres to particle, 
and rocks are formed. Of such are the petri- 
factions found in the earth, and several spe- 
cies of sand, stone, &c* 

The rocks which contain marine relics, ve- 
getables, and even the remains of land ani- 
mals, will first demand our attention. 

That these were formed in the bottom of the 
ocean, appears evident from the many facts 
which we have on record, and from those 
which must have fallen under the observation 
of every person. 

In the lowest stratum of secondary rocks are 
found no remains but those of fishes, or of 

then the body is of more weight than the same extent of water, and it 
sinks. Hence green timber, while the pores are filled with sap, is 
heavier than when the moisture is expelled by rarifection, and the 
pores are filled with. air. 

* The process carried on by nature in petrifactions is curious, and 
simple as are all her works. As one particle of matter is removed 
by decay, or putrefaction in any animal or vegetable body at rest, 
where water continues to bring lime, or any calcarious particles, 
the place of the particle removed, is instantly occupied by the stony 
substance that the whole body retains its figure, though the substance 
is wholly changed. Hence are frequently found stones of exact simi- 
litude of plants, trees, reptiles, &c. and even the human frame, while 
reposing in the grave, has undergone this material change. 



24 

aquatic animals, and these remains are very 
different from any which are now known to 
exist. The changes which our planet has ex- 
perienced, have produced changes in the spe- 
cies of animals, which were destined to inhabit 
the lands, or dwell beneath the waters. This 
appears evident from the fact, that the remains 
of many animals have been found, which bear 
but little resemblance to the same species at 
the present time, and many have been disco- 
vered, whose species and even genus have be- 
come extinct. 

The organic remains found in the oldest 
secondary rocks, differ more from existing 
species than remains found in rocks of more 
recent formation.* This induces us to believe 
that the changes and catastrophes to which 
our world has been subject, have, by changing 
the properties or motions of the elements, pro- 

* "Amidst these changes of the general fluid," says Ctjyier, "it 
must have been almost impossible for the same kind cf animals to 
have lived — nor did they do so in fact. Their species, and even gen- 
era, change with the strata, and although the same species occasion- 
ally recur at small distances, it is generally the case, that the shells of 
the ancient strata have forms peculiar to themselves; that they gradu- 
ally disappear, till they are not to be seen at all in the recent strata, 
still less in the existing seas, in which indeed we never discover their 
corresponding species, and where several species of their genera are 
not to be found. Thai, on the contrary, the shells of the recent, re- 
semble, as it respects the genus, those which exist in the sea; and that 
in the last formed and loosest of these strata, there are some species, 
which the eye of the most expert naturalist cannot distinguish from 
those which at present inhabit the ocean." — Page 35. 






«/= 



duced essential changes in the form, constitu- 
tions, and habits of the animal creation. 

The organic remains found in the most an- 
cient secondary rocks, are wholly of the marine 
kind, and from their shape we are induced to 
believe, that when they lived they were in 
their rudest state. These inhabited the wa- 
ters before the Lord commanded the dry land 
to appear. We are led to this belief by the 
fact, that no remains of land animals, nor of 
vegetables, are found in the strata containing 
these relics. 

Before the first lands were raised from the 
ocean, there were no currents in the waters as 
there now are. This will be hereafter ex- 
plained. Then the waters were not agitated 
by the winds, tides, nor tempests, as they now 
are. Then the inhabitants of the waters had 
no tides nor currents to encounter as they now 
have. They remained in a quiescent state, 
died, their remains settled to the bottom of 
the ocean, there undisturbed by any agitation 
of the waters, their relics petrified,* or cover- 

* It is a well known fact, that in caves where there is no circulation 
of air, that many petrifactions are found. Likewise in graves, which 
are filled with water impregnated with lime, where there is no cur- 
rent, the human body has in a few years been converted into solid 
marble. It is evident, that if there were no tides nor waves in the 
ocean, the same process would be carried on at the bottom, and it 
cannot be surprising that we find masses of secondary rocks some 
hundred feet in thickness. 

3 



26 - 

ed by other particles cemented into rocks. — 
When, by internal fires, the solid foundations 
of the deep were elevated to be the abode of 
nobler animals, these relics were projected far 
from the depths where they had long reposed, 
and crown the summits of our hills and moun- 
tains. When dry land appeared, which was 
the Eastern continent, currents in the ocean in 
a degree commenced. Rivers began to flow, 
winds begau to agitate the surface of the 
waters, and the tides moved regularly to and 
from the new born land. The waters were 
kept in motion to a greater depth near the 
continent than at a distance from the shore. 
Then the inhabitants of the deep were forced 
to oppose the currents; they were impelled to 
greater action, and their strength, shape, and 
motions were formed for the sphere which they 
were destined to fill. Then many species, 
and perhaps genera, became extinct * Among 
the numerous remains which w T ere deposited 
prior to this period, no appearance of land 
animals nor of vegetable have been discovered, 
and there are no vestiges of aquatic animals 
or fishes, whose shape would indicate that they 
had ever been engaged in stemming the rapid 
currents of tides or rivers. f 

* Vide Cuvier, from page 118 to 129. 

f That a change should be effected in the animal creation, by cur- 
rents, &c. caay appear doubtful on a partial view of this subject. But 



27 

The Eastern continent, or a greater part of 
it, and perhaps much more than what now re- 
mains above the waters, was raised when God 
commanded the seas to retire. Then vegeta- 
tion was caused to grow, and animals designed 
for the use and convenience of man were cre- 
ated. As vegetables were torn from the soil, 
and as animals died, some of each were trans- 
ported by rivers to the ocean. These remains 
were borne by marine currents to various dis- 
tances from the land, settled, mingled with 
other matter, and cemented into rocks. 

When there was but one continent, the 
marine currents were different from their pre- 
sent courses. Then the waters were raised* 
highest near the coasts, and flowed to the east 
from the eastern shores of Asia and Africa, 
and to the west from the western coasts of Af- 
rica and Europe. These currents transported 
to different distances in the ocean the deposits 
which rivers committed to their charge; and as 
they moved from the continent, their velocity 

when we reflect that no other change but that of climate will produce 
a great change in animal shape and economy, we must believe that a 
change in climate, in food, in exercise, in the air and water would have 
a much greater effect. Those animals which were incapable of such a 
change perished, and such species as could endure this metamorphosis 
and subsequent catastrophes, have extended their lineage to the pre- 
sent time. Fishes which have been the inmates of salt water, and 
removed to fresh, experience an essential change in their forms and 
habits. See Dr. Samuel Mitchill, Notes on Cuvier, p. 331, 



28 

diminished-, and the remains they bore set- 
tled at different distances from the shore 
according to their densities. As these currents 
returned towards the continent twice each day 
the debris and remains they carried from the 
land, could not be transported round the 
globe. The waters remained nearly at rest on 
the side of the earth opposite to the continent. 
Thus continued the grand process of nature 
in forming rocks, for the support of lands and 
mountains, for the benefit of future generations, 
till one thousand six hundred and fifty years 
after man was created, when the Almighty, in 
justice, caused a still greater change to be ef- 
fected on the surface of our planet. The old 
continent groaned under the burden of iniqui- 
ty. That Being whose all penetrating eye be- 
holds the actions and thoughts of all, would 
suffer no longer such vices to prevail. To his 
faithful servant he revealed his will, and pro- 
vided means for the preservation of those who 
were to re-people the world. To accomplish 
this work of justice, and to render our planet 
a more extensive theatre, in which his glorious 
attributes were to be displayed, God caused a 
new continent to appear. Again, He com- 
missioned his servant fire to exert his strength 
far beneath the bed of the ocean. While Noah 
was building the Ark, the fire was gathering 



29 

power to accomplish his wonderful task. When 
the chosen few were in safety, when the ap- 
pointed time arrived for nature to be confound- 
ed, the command was given for a new conti- 
nent to appear. The greater part of America 
arose. The ascensions produced the universal 
deluge, as will be hereafter clearly elucidated. 
This produced a residence for millions of in- 
telligent beings, and occasioned changes in 
the economy, and order of the elements, and 
no less revolution in the formation and dura- 
tion of the animal and vegetable kingdom. 
Since that period when most of AmerX& 
emerged from the deep, the north-eastern part 
of our continent has been raised, and produced 
a deluge similar, though less extensive than 
that in which all flesh suffered. Other like 
catastrophes have taken place in our world at 
various periods, which will claim our attention 
m their proper places. 

Having briefly introduced our theory of the 
formation of the earth, rocks, mountains, &c, 
we will attempt to bring facts to prove that 
the premises we have assumed are correct. 
But in giving merely an abstract of a theory it 
cannot be expected that we should introduce all 
the facts which have been brought to light by 
the ingenious and enterprising Geologists. A 
simple relation of facts, which go directly to 
3* 



30 

prove the correctness of our theory, would af- 
ford matter for volumes. Therefore, we shall 
have recourse but to few, and to such as are 
most generally known. 



In commencing with the proofs to establish 
our theory, we are induced to make use of some 
preliminary remarks of the illustrious Cuvier. 
"When the traveller passes through those fer- 
tile plains where gently flowing streams nour- 
ish in their course an abundant vegetation, and 
where the soil is inhabited by a numerous popu- 
lation, adorned with flourishing villages, opu- 
lent cities, and superb monuments, is never 
disturbed except by the ravages of war, and 
tke oppression of tyrants, he is not led to sus- 
pect that nature has also had her intestine 
wars, and that the surface of our globe has 
been much convulsed by successive revolutions, 
and various catastrophes. But his ideas 
change as soon as he digs into that soil which 
presents such a peaceful aspect, or ascends the 
hills which border on the plains, and they be- 
gin to embrace the full extent and grandeur of 
those ancient events to which I have alluded; 
when he climbs the more elevated chains whose 
base is skirted by these first hills, or when, by 
following the beds of descending torrents, he 



31 

penetrates into their interior structure, which 
is thus laid open to his inspection." Cuvier's 
Theory, p. 30. 

FIRST PROOF OF REVOLUTIONS ON THE 
SURFACE OF THE GLOBE. 

The lowest and most level parts of the earth, 
when penetrated to any great depth, exhibit 
nothing but horizontal strata, composed of cu- 
rious substances, and containing almost all of 
them innumerable marine productions. Simi- 
lar strata, with the same kind of productions, 
compose the hills even to a great height. 
Sometimes the shells are so numerous as to 
constitute the entire body of the stratum. They 
are almost every where in such a perfect state 
of preservation, that even the smallest of them 
retain their most delicate parts, their sharpest 
ridges, and their finest and tenderest processes. 
They are found in elevations far above the 
level of every part of the ocean, and in places 
to which the sea could not be conveyed by any 
existing cause. They are not only enclosed in 
loose sand, but are often incrusted and pene- 
trated on all sides by the hardest stones. 
Every part of the earth, every hemisphere, 
every continent, every island of any size, ex- 
hibits the same phenomena. We are there- 



32 

fore forcibly led to believe, not only that the 
sea has at one period or another covered all 
our plains, but that it must have remained 
there a long time, and in a state of tranquility; 
which circumstance was necessary for the for- 
mation of deposits so extensive, so thick, in part 
so solid, and containing exuvice so perfectly 
preserved. 

The time is past for ignorance to assert that 
these remains of organized bodies are mere 
lusus naturce; productions, generated in the 
womb of the earth by its own created powers. 
A nice and scrupulous comparison of their 
forms, of their contexture, and frequently 
even of their composition, cannot detect the 
slightest difference between these shells and 
the shells which still inhabit the sea. They 
have therefore once lived in the sea, and been 
deposited by it, the sea must consequently have 
rested in the places where the depositions have 
taken place. Hence it is evident that the ba« 
sin or reservoir, containing the sea, has under- 
gone some change at least, either in extent or 
in situation or in both. Such is the result of 
the very first search and of the most superficial 
observation. 

The traces of revolutions become still more 
apparent and decisive when we ascend a little 
higher, and approach nearer to the foot of the 



33 

great chain of mountains. There are still 
found many beds of shells, some of these are 
even larger and more solid; the shells are quite 
as numerous and as entirely preserved, but 
they are not of the same species with those 
which were found in less elevated regions. 
The strata which contain them are less hori- 
zontal. They have various degrees of inclina- 
tion, and, are sometimes situated vertically. 
While in the plains and low hills it was neces- 
sary to dig deep in order to detect the succes- 
sion of the strata, here we perceive them by 
means of the vallies which time or violence has 
produced, and which disclose their edges to the 
eye of the observer. At the bottom of these 
declivities, huge masses of their debris are col- 
lected, and form round hills, the height of which 
is augmented by the operation of every thaw 
and every storm. 

These inclined, or vertical strata, which form 
the ridges of the secondary mountains, do not 
rest on the horizontal strata of the hills which 
are situated at their base and serve as their first 
steps, but on the contrary are situated under- 
neath them. The latter are placed on the de- 
clivity of the former. When we dig through 
the horizontal strata, in the neighbourhood of 
the inclined strata, the inclined strata are in- 
variably found below. Nay, sometimes when 



34 

the inclined strata are not too much elevated 
their summit is surmounted by horizontal strata. 
The inclined strata are therefore more ancient 
than the horizontal strata. And as they must 
necessarily have been formed in a horizontal 
position they have been subsequently shifted 
into their inclined or vertical position, and that 
too before the horizontal strata were placed 
above them. 

Thus the sea, previous to the formation of 
the horizontal strata, had formed others, which 
by some means have been broken, lifted" up, 
and overturned in a thousand different ways. 
There had therefore been also at least one 
change in the basin of that sea-which preceded 
ours, it had also experienced at least one revo- 
lution; and as several of these inclined strata 
which it had formed first, are elevated above 
the level of the horizontal strata which have 
succeeded and which surrounds them, this re- 
volution, while it gave them the present incli- 
nation, had also caused them to project above 
the level of the sea, so as to form islands, or at 
least rocks and inequalities, and this must have 
happened, whether one of their ridges was lift- 
ed above the water, or the depression of the 
opposite edge caused the water to subside. 
This is the second result, not less obvious, nor 
less clearly demonstrated than the first, to 






35 

every one who will take the trouble of studying 
carefully the remains by which it is illustrated 
and proved. 

PROOFS THAT THESE REVOLUTIONS HAVE 
BEEN SUDDEN. 

These repeated irruptions and retreats of 
the sea have neither been slow nor gradual; 
most of the catastrophes which have oc- 
casioned them have been sudden; and this is 
easily proved, especially with regard to 
last of them, the traces of which are most con- 
spicuous. In the northern regions it has left 
the carcases of some large quadrupeds, which 
the ice had arrested, and which are preserved 
to this day with their skin, their hair, and their 
flesh. If they had not been frozen as soon as 
killed, they must quickly have been decom- 
posed by putrefaction. But this eternal frost 
could not have taken possession of the regions 
which these animals inhabited, except by the 
same cause which destroyed them;* this cause 

* The two most remarkable phenomena of this kind, and which 
must forever banish all idea of a slow and gradual revolution, are the 
rhinoceros discovered in 1771 s in the banks of Vilhoid, and the elephant 
recently found by Mr. Adams near the mouth of the Lena This 
last retained its flesh and skin, on which were hair of two kinds; one 
short, fine, and crisped, resembling wool, and the other like long 
bristles. The flesh was still in such high preservation, that it vas 
e%ten by dogs.— Cuxrier,p. 37, note. 



36 

therefore must have been as sudden as its 
effect. 

The breaking to pieces and overturning the 
strata, which happened in former catastro- 
phes, show plainly enough that they were 
sudden and violent like the last; and the heaps 
of debris and rounded pebbles which are found 
in various places among the solid strata, de- 
monstrate the vast force of the motions excited 
in the mass of waters by these overturnings. — 
Life has therefore been often disturbed on this 
earth by terrible events. Calamities which at 
their commencement moved and overturned to 
a great depth the entire outer crust of the 
globe, but which, since these first commotions, 
have uniformly acted at less depth, and less 
generally. Numberless living beings have been 
the victims of the catastrophes; some have 
been destroyed by sudden inundations; others 
"have been laid dry in consequence of the bot- 
tom of the seas being instantaneously elevated. 
Their races even have become extinct, and 
have left no memorial of them except some 
small fragments, which the naturalists can 
scarcely recognize." 

Such is the opinion of the illustrious Cu- 
vikk, and thus far, had he been labouring to 
proVe and establish the theory we have 
adopted, he could not have laboured more 



37 

conclusively to the point; and we shall attempt, 
from the premises we have chosen, to show 
the causes of the revolutions and catastrophes 
which he has so distinctly proved to have taken 
place. 

PROOF I. 

The Position of the various Strata ofRocTcSy 
Shells, and Jllluvion. 

That the theory we have adopted is correct, 
we will first attempt to prove from the posi- 
tion of the strata of rocks, &e. which appear 
on or near the surface of the earth. 

The rocks composing the base, the sides, 
and even the summits of mountains, clearly 
testify in favour of our theory. 

Such a similarity exists in the positions of 
rocks in all countries which have been ex- 
plored, that we cannot doubt but they were 
all elevated by the same or similar causes, if 
not at the same time. 

On plains the strata are horizontal. In 
many low plains the strata have never been 
raised, but remain as they were formed in the 
bottom of the ocean. When, by the revolu- 
tions, the waters receded, as will be hereafter 
explained, what once was the foundations of 
the deep was left dry. 
4 



38 

These strata have been covered by the de- 
bris from the mountains, and by the alluvion 
which has been brought upon them by cur- 
rents and inundations. The bases of more 
elevated plains, were raised from the deep 
by the heat which operated equally on the va- 
rious parts, that they were raised perpendicu- 
larly. 

The summits of mountains are the places 
under whieh the greatest force was exerted, 
and these are the places where the fire burst 
forth to light; hence they were elevated to a 
greater height. ; 

The strata composing the sides of the moun- 
tains, are inclined to a plane of the horizon in 
various degrees, in proportion to the height of 
the mountains, and the steepness of the preci- 
pice which they compose. Some of the strata 
are perpendicular, while others are nearly ho- 
rizontal, and the strata are found, in all de- 
grees of inclination, between these two points. 

If we suppose a force to be exerted beneath 
a horizontal plain, the whole plain is; raised, 
but the force concentrating into certain points, 
elevates them more than in others, it is easy to 
conceive that the strata would be inclined in 
proportion to the height to which the point 
was elevated. This is the situation of the po- 



39 

sition of the strata composing the sides of 
mountains* 

These strata near the base of the mountains, 
dip beneath the horizontal strata of the plain, 
which proves, as Cuvier observes, that th? 
inclined strata are of more ancient formation 
than those of the plains. The strata of the 
plains, or those which cover the inclined ones, 
were formed after the mountains were raised, 
by currents which flowed to the sides and even 
summits of most of the mountains. 

Beneath the strata of secondary rocks, the 
primitive are deposited. These were formed, 
as has been stated, by the matter becoming 
liquefied by the heat which raised the land, 
and when the heat subsided, they consolidated 
into extensive masses, and in general retained 
the position in which they were formed beneath 
the secondary ones.* But these primitive 

* The greater the degree of heat is to which matter is exposed, 
when it becomes liquefied, the harder or more dense the body is when 
it becomes a solid, and more heat is required to i educe a solid to a 
fluid the second than the first time. Hence lead, iron, &c. by fre- 
quent melting, become harder. Hence, the lower strata of primi- 
tive rocks being- exposed to greater heat when the matter composing 
them was liquefied, are found to be harder. 

In Ohio, and the other western states, in boring wells for salt water, 
the miners judge ot their distance from the bottom of the rock, beneath 
which salt water is found by the density of the rock. Near the bot- 
tom, the rock is so hard that their implements have scarcely any effect 
upon it. Here the rocks were not elevated by so sudden a force as to 
break or remove them from the position in which they were formed, 
and the lowest having experienced the greatest degree of heat, is 
found to be the most dense. 



40 

rocks are found to crown the summits of moun- 
tains, more particularly those of the highest 
class. When the strata which were formed 
horizontally in the bed of the sea were eleva- 
ted, they could not cover a greater surface 
than they had covered when they were formed; 
hence they could not cover the sides and sum- 
mits of mountains. They must have been se- 
parated, and in the places where most force 
was exerted, the divisions would be made. Be- 
neath the summits of mountains the forces con- 
centrated; here the rents were made, and 
here the matter composing the primitive rocks 
was elevated to the greatest height. 

In some few places the strata of secondary 
rocks have been discovered below the masses 
of primitive ones. In those places, the force 
which elevated them was so great, that the 
strata, when elevated, were inverted. 

In many instances, masses of primitive rocks 
have, by earthquakes, by frosts, tempests, &c. 
been loosened from their seats on the summits 
of mountains, and have been precipitated down 
the precipices, and at last rest on strata of se- 
condary ones. In other instances, immense 
masses of primitive rocks have been borne in 
ice and currents, far from the situations in 
which they were first deposited. It is ration- 
al to conclude, that in such explosions as those 



41 

which elevated mountains and continents, vast 
fragments of mountains would be projected 
to a great distance, and when they descen- 
ded, they must have rested on strata of secon- 
dary rocks. Hence w T e have a cause for the 
appearance of many clefts, and eminences of 
rocks, reposing on plains far distant from 
mountains and of congenial strata.* If in such 
explosions as are witnessed in iEtna, rocks of 
hundreds of pounds in weight are thrown 
miles into the country, what might we not ex- 
pect from an eruption which raised the An- 
des, Cordilleries, the Alleghany and Stony 
mountains? 

PROOF II. 

The formation of the various Strata. 

The strata of secondary rocks are of differ- 
ent thickness. 

Parallel interstices separate one stratum from 
another, which evidently shows that they were 
interrupted in their formation, or that petri- 
faction was from some cause prevented, and 

* From the appearances of precipices, or fragments of mountains 
on plains far remote from ranges of mountains, and from the situation 
of many small islands and rocks near the coasts of continents, and oi 
larger islands, the ancient poets, doubtlessly, derived the idea of times 
-when gods contended in mortal strife, and mountains were the wea- 
pons oi warfare. 
4# 



£2 

when it again commenced, the new stratum did 
not adhere to the preceding. The upper strata . 
in general are thinner than the lower, or they 
increase in thickness as we descend. The last 
formed strata are composed of coarser parti- 
cles, and have more sand blended with them 
than those of more ancient formation. 

As we descend to considerable depth into a 
quarry, we find the marble better, and in 
masses much thicker than towards the surface. 
On the Eastern continent, the strata of se- 
condary rocks are not only finer, but exist in 
much thicker layers than any that have been 
discovered in the new world, and they are not 
covered by so many thin strata as they are in 
America. 

The solid masses of marble of great thick- 
ness, from which the magnificent monuments of 
antiquity were fashioned, were formed in the 
bed of the ocean before any dry land was caus- 
ed to appear* Then the waters were not agi- 
tated to interrupt the regular process of nature. 
Then there were no debris, and sands from 
mountains, conveyed to the ocean and deposi- 
ted in the strata. Hence, the marble formed 
previous to the waters being gathered toge- 
ther, is finer, and exists in more extensive mas- 
ses. But when from the land's arising, currents 
were formed, and earthquakes commenced, pe- 



43 

trifaction was interrupted, and when the wa- 
ters from any cause were agitated to the bot- 
tom, there terminated the thickness of the then 
forming stratum. When a calm again com- 
menced, then commenced a new stratum. As 
more lands arose, more violent were the tem- 
pests, more forcible the currents, more fre- 
quent the earthquakes, more sand and debris 
were conveyed to the oceans; and thinner and 
of coarser materials are the strata which were 
formed.* 

The force which elevated these strata was- so 
violent, that in many places, especially in moun- 
tains, where its strength was most exerted, 
they were broken, and it is not uncommon to 
find them in a perpendicular direction from 
what they were formed, and even in an invert- 
ed position. On opposite sides of mountains 
the strata are inclined in different directions. 
On the west of ranges of mountains the lower 

* In none of the quarries which have been opened in America, have 
been found such sound and solid strata of marble, as have been taken 
from the quarries of Upper Egypt; but we have no reason to donbt, 
if our quarries were wrought to a sufficient depth, but that as fine 
stone could be found, as adorn the temples of the old world. Before 
we can arrive to marble of the same quality as theirs, we must break 
through or remove the strata which were formed in our section of the 
world, after the Eastern continent was raised from the deep, before 
our part of the world was summoned to appear. Many quarries, which 
have been partially explored, may contain some of the marble which 
was formed previous to dry land's appearing; but such are in situa- 
tions in which they were so much exposed to the convulsions which 
raised them, that the blocks are generally in a broken state. 



44 

edges of the strata dip to the west, while on 
the east they uniformly dip to the east, which 
shows that the force which caused them to rise, 
broke forth in the summits of the mountains. 

PROOF III. 

The various Colours of Marble. 

The various colours and shades of marble 
coincide with our views of this subject. The 
clouded clearly indicates a small degree of mo- 
tion in the water, while the matter composing 
the strata existed in a paste like substance, not 
easily broken, but capable of being agitated by 
a small motion of the incumbent fluid. The 
white marble was formed in situations to which 
none but similar particles were conveyed. 
Those quarries from which marble is taken va- 
riegated with various colours, had their forma- 
tion in situations where the shells of various 
kinds of fishes, in different degrees of decay 
were collected. The entirely black marble 
received its existence in positions similar to the 
white, but where particles in a different state 
of preservation, or degrees of decay, were col- 
lected and deposited. Frequently in blocks of 
marble, which are generally white, are found 
places of considerable extent of a different 
colour. These spots are composed of exuviw 7 



45 

which united in the water in the form of a scum/ 
floated or were driven by gentle breezes on the 
surface, till mixing with other particles, they 
became of greater density than the waters set- 
tled to the bottom of the ocean, rested on a 
stratum of marble which had not often been 
visited by such guests, adhered to its surface, 
were soon covered by succeeding particles of 
the same colour as the rocks on which they 
reposed, and there rested till the genius and 
industry of man have brought them to view.* 

PROOF IV. 

Veins of primitive Rocks perforating the 
strata of secondary ones. 

In almost every stratum of secondary rocks 
in our country, and doubtless* in every part of 
the world, are to be found veins of primitive 
rocks, running and branching like veins in va- 
rious directions. In all respects they resemble 
in their courses and windings such as would be 
formed by melted metal diffused through long 



* The marble of America contains more such spots than that of the 
eastern continent. Many light particles washed from the lands in the 
old world, collected on the ocean, were carried by the regular tides 
from the shores, and driven by the umarying winds wmch then pre- 
vailed, to where America was destined to appear; there th- current 
subsiding, they settled, and remained till elevated in rocks to form the 
basis of our plains and mountains. 



46 

interstices. Some of these veins are of vast 
extent and thickness. 

By the theory we have embraced, the cause 
of these phenomena is easily illustrated. 

When the fire beneath the many strata of 
secondary rocks imbedded at the bottom of the 
deep, raged to such a degree as to liquefy the 
matter near the incumbent strata, but had not 
acquired force to raise the firm foundations of 
the oceans, innumerable rents were made in 
the secondary strata; and the matter which had 
been converted to a fluid in the vast furnace of 
nature was forced upwards, and in every di- 
rection where rents or interstices had been 
made. These veins when at such a distance 
from the flaming gulf as to lose their heat, con- 
solidated into matter more dense than the rocks 
through which they had flowed. When the 
fire had acquired sufficient force to elevate its 
massive covering, all was raised together, and 
these veins, not only in broken and cragged 
clifts, but in the smooth and polished marble, 
and even in the stones in the streets, bear tes- 
timony of the correctness of our theory.* 

* No clearer illustration of the formation of variegated marble 
and interstices, can be given, than is to be seen in the pillars of the 
Capitol at Washington. The stone is composed almost wholly of 
pebbles of every colour, size, and shape, except square, cemented 
by matter as hard as themselves. In various places, veins of white 



47 



PROOF V. 

The Mines of Salt. 

The mines of salt, which are found in va- 
rious countries, are proofs of the correctness of 
our theory. 

While the fire was raging beneath the bed of 
the ocean, and had not acquired strength to 
spring to light, as openings were made in the 
barrier which divided the raging element be- 
neath from the briny flood above, the waters 

primitive stone run through the pillars, entirely separating the 
pebbles, or breaking some and separating others. 

The formation of the pillars of the Capitol leads to the following 
conclusions. 

1. Every pebble of which they are composed being rounded, 
renders it evident, that all of them were rolled a great distance by 
a current, before they rested in the place where they were ce- 
mented. 

2. They must have been cemented into a solid mass, before the,. 
interstices of primitive, which appear in them, found places ther<^ 
for if they had not been firmly united, some of them would not 
have been broken in the centre, rather than separate one from 
another. 

3. Great force must have been employed to reud in various 
directions a solid stratum, so dense as that small pebbles would 
split before the matter uniting them would give way. 

4. The matter which filled the interstices or rents that were 
made through the stratum, must have been in a liquid state when it 
entered and filled these rents; for they turn in so many direc- 
tions, and wind in so minute channels and veins, that no solid matter 
could have been diffused so far. . 

From these conclusions we infer, that the pebb -es composing the mar- 
ble of the pillars ot the Capitol were deposited where they cemented, 
before America was raised from the ocea.i; that the force which rais- 
ed .them, broke the stratum in various directions, and that the matter 



, 48 

flowed into the burning caverns, the aqueous 
particles were dissipated in vapours, and the 
saline only remained to close the fissures, and 
bar the flames from light. 

When the bottom of the deep arose, the 
masses of salt which had been formed and con- 
fined, as has been stated, were elevated with 
the strata, and many of which have been ex- 
plored for the benefit of man. 

'which was liquefied by heat beneath, was forced into the iuterstices, and 
appears in the white veins which so beautifully variegate the whole mass. 

When the first lands which we have supposed to be the eastern 
continent arose, innumerable fragments of rocks must have covered 
the surface. These, like other materials, were by tempests and 
streams rolled to the ocean. The currents of the ocean as has been 
stated, and will be explained, moved to the east and west from the 
land. The bottom of the ocean when it remained unbroken, was a 
^olid rock. These stones by a regular current would be rolled to a 
great distance; and were the bounds of the eastern continent no more 
extensive tha» they now are, it is not inconsistent to suppose, that the 
pebbles which form the firm and elegant pillars of the Capito! of FheB 
America, were driven by the laws of nature from realms ong 
shrouded in the gloomy clouds of despotism. 

The pillars forming the Giant Cause-way, in Ireland, which have 
excited so much attention, were formed in the same manner as the 
veins of primitive rocks in those of the secondary class, with this 
exception. The veins in rocks were formed by liquid matter being 
pressed between solids; but when the fire beneath the bed of the 
ocean, before it raised its incumbent load, made rents through 
the strata, and masses of liquid matter from beneath were propell- 
ed into the ocran above, they suddenly cooling, formed those re- 
gular columns which have so much astonished the world. Matter 
in a solid state does not occupy so large a space as when in a fluid. 
When the matter composing the pillars of the Giant Cause- way was 
cooled in the water, it must have contracted, and this contraction pro- 
duced the numerous interstices which formed into regular pillars the „ 
vast torrent which was propelled from the raging furnace of nature. 



49 

Springs and rills filtrating through these 
veins break out into the vales impregnated with 
the useful mineral.* 

PROOF VI. 
The Caverns in the Earth. 

The many and vast cavities in the earth are 
ready witnesses in our favour. 

When the. mountains arose, vast spaces were 
formed between the fragments of the strata* 

* On reflection it will not appear inconsistent to suppose that in 
some places where rents were made in the bottom of the ocean, the 
waters would flow into them, while in others the liquid matter from 
beneath would he propelled into the ocean. If a direct rent was 
made from the fire beneath to the water above, extending as low, as 
to the liquefied matter, the raging ocean beneath would be urged to rise 
with such a violence, that the one above oould not descend, as was the 
case in the Giant Cause-way, and in several other places where similar 
pillars have been found. 

But if a rent or fissure was made in an irregular direction from 
the flaming mass beneath to the waters of the ocean, the fluid below 
would not press upwards with such force as to prevent the waters from 
descending. Into such interstices the waters rushed to form the salt 
mines which are found in almost every section of the globe. 

If such rents were made, and the waters flowed in, the force of 
the heat would be diminished; that when the fire had acquired 
strength to burst to light, and raise all above it, in such places less 
power would be exerted, and to a less height would the lands be 
raised. 

No salt mines have ever been discovered on elevated grounds, but 
uniformly in depressions of the original strata. In many places allu- 
vial formations may rise into eminences on these mines, but they have 
never been discovered but in depressions of that part of the earth 
which was first raised. 

We believe that there is one extensive range of salt running through 

5 



50 

Such as are above the level of the ocean, or 
have no communication with it, still remain 
vacant unless filled with alluvion.* 

PROOF VII. 
Of Lands which have sunk. 

Islands and parts of continents which have 
sunk in various periods of the world, clearly 
prove that there are immense caverns beneath 
the continents and islands. 

When the dry land appeared, mountains, 
islands, &c. were supported by the arches 
formed by broken strata, resting on the sides 
of the abyss from whence they arose. If these 
arches are not sufficiently firm to resist the 
hand of time, or the shocks of earthquakes, 
their incumbent burdens press them to the 
dreary caverns from whence they emerge. 

It is not uncommon for large extents of high 
country to sink during an earthquake, and 
many cities in such convulsions have sunh to be 

the United States, from north-east to south-west, commencing near 
Lake Ontario, and that there are many collateral brandies extending 
from this. 

* In every country which has been explored, many caves have heen 
discovered, some extending several miles in various directions, all 
manifesting that they were formed by vast convulsions of nature. 
That there are many which are below the surface of the ocean and 
filled with water, we will attempt to show, when we treat of the tides. 



31 

seen no more,* These catastrophes could not 
have taken place were there not vast cavities 
below the surface of the earth. During an 
earthquake, large caverns have opened from 
which waters have rushed in torrents, which 
proves that many of these caverns are filled by 
the ocean. 

PROOF VIII. 

The many Islands which have arisen from 
the ocean. 

Since events have been recorded, many 
islands have been known to arise from the seas 
and oceans. These have been raised by fire,, 
which after continuing to rage, and emit 
smoke and vapour for various periods, has 
been extinguished. Some of these islands have 
disappeared, others remain apparently firm 
to the present time. 

If islands have been raised in this manner 
why should it appear incredible, that greater 

* No low lands, nor cities which are situated on plains of small ele- 
vation, have ever been swallowed up by an earthquake. Low plains, 
as has been observed, rest not on arches, or broken fragments of rocks, 
but on the foundation which was formed in the bed of the ocean, and 
has been left dry by the subsidence of the waters; and then enriched 
by alluvial deposits from the mountains. 

Some pretend that the density of the earth is constantly in creasing 
as we descend from its surface. Of such theorists we would inquire 
where cities, plains, and mountains, have retired to, when during an 
earthquake they have sunk from our view? 



52 

fire at greater depths should have existed, and 
acquiring greater force should raise masses 
equal to the most extensive mountains, and even 
continents? Mountains have been elevated 
from plains, and have withstood, for centuries, 
the ravages of time and the convulsions of na- 
ture, and why may not continents be raised and 
supported in the same manner? 

When the continents were projected from 
the deep, and the force of the heat had subsi- 
ded, those parts which were not firmly sup- 
ported, sunk again to the caverns from whence 
they were raised. The only traces which now 
remain of them are seas and gulfs, and the 
islands whose surfaces are but just above the 
waters. If they had been firmly supported 
they would have intercepted the course of the 
clouds.* 

* We are convinced that the West India islands were parts of the 
range of mountains which united the Andes to the Alleghany moun- 
tains. 

When the fire which raised our continent subsided , that portion of 
the range of mountains which extended on the east of the Carribbean 
sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and reached as far to the north, as where 
now the Alleghany mountains terminate in the state of Mississippi, 
had not so firm a foundation as it had to the south and north, and sunk 
in a great degree into the abyss from which it was projected. When 
the agitation of the waters ceased, and the ocean subsided, many parts 
of the range remained above the surface of the seas, and now appear 
in the group ot islands between North and South America. The basis 
of East Florida is a part of the fallen mountain. The summits of this 
range are now covered with an alluvion, which will be hereafter ex* 
plained, and which gives great fertility to the lands* 



53 

PROOF IX. 
Of Earthquakes. 

Earthquakes speak loudly in favour of our 
theory. The air which fills the vast cavities, 
formed by broken rocks, above the surface of 
the waters, becomes so rarefied that it must 
have vent. As it expands, and striving for 
liberty, causes islands, mountains, and even 
continents, to tremble to their centre, and when 
it bursts its bounds, ^desolation marks its pro- 
gress," and whole cities and provinces are 
swallowed in the yawning gulfs which it opens 
in its progress. Promontories, capes, and 
islands, which are pendent over the abyss from 
which they were raised, and are supported only 
by being united with strata resting on a firm 
foundation, are by the shocks of nature sever- 
ed from the parts which have for ages upheld 
them, and they sink to appear no more.* 

* Pliny describes an earthquake which swallowed up thirteen cities 
in Asia Minor, in one night. The many accounts which we have of 
earthquakes, both in ancient and modern times, clearly evince that 
there are vast cavities in the earth in innumerable places, even under 
the foundations of the ocean. Some most eligible sites for cities have 
been entirely abandoned, on account of their being so subject to earth- 
quakes. These were situated near some cavities which were formed 
when the lands appeared. Earthquakes are not so frequent nor vio- 
lent as in ancient days. By the depression of lands, cavities have been 



54 

PROOF X. 

Volcanoes. 

Volcanoes prove the irresistible force of fire 
when Jong confined in caverns, and that there 
is combustion in the solid parts of our globe, to 
feed and support this devouring element. Vol- 
canoes, or such as exist at the present time> 
have their origin near the surface of the earth, 
compared to those which caused the continents 
to rise. The present exist but in the mass 
which was raised by former ones, or in the 
combustion which was collected and buried 
during the general deluge.* 

lessened; and by the rarefaction of the air in these caverns much has 
been expelled which produced former convulsions, that now subterra- 
nean pressure is not so great. 

* It ma)* not be improper to notice here the objections which have 
been made to the theory of primitive rocks being volcanic productions. 
The principal ground of objection is, -'Primitive rocks have no resem« 
blance to Ia\a which is wholly volcanic." Neither have brick, earthern, 
or glass, a resemblance of lava, yet it cannot be denied, but their pre- 
sent solid state is produced by heat. In decomposing particles of 
matter by heat, and suffering them to consolidate, much depends as to. 
their appearance on the situation of the matter when fusion com- 
mences, and on the manner of its cooling. 

Lava is thrown in a state of fluidity into the atmosphere or water, 
and by the sudden transition from heat to cold, is left light and porous. 
I3ut the primitive rocks consolidated in a very different state. They 
were mostly covered by strata of secondary rocks which secured them 
in a great degree from the influence of water and air. They must 
have been a long time in becoming cool. They existed in such masses 
that merely by pressure, when in a fluid state, they would be render- 
ed compact. The lava by being exposed to the air, when in fusion, 
throws off many particles which are retained by the primitive rocks* 



55 



PROOF XL 

Of Mountains. 

The situation of mountains clearly indicate^ 
that they were formed in the manner we have 
described. They generally exist in ranges of 
vast extent, with others, of less magnitude, ex- 
tending from them in various angles. The 
branches of the principal ranges diminish in 
height as they extend from the main ridge. — 
This, we readily perceive, would be their sit- 
uation, if they were elevated by fire from be- 
neath. Where the principal rent was made, 
the force of the fire would concentrate, and 

The surface of those primitive rocks, which appear on the summits of 
mountains, and were exposed to the influence of the atmosphere, may 
have heen porous like lava; but the constant operations of frosts and 
tempests, for revolving centuries would have smoothed the rougher 
parts, and even loosened and washed away many particles from the 
solid mass. 

The various densities and colours of primitive rocks were occasioned 
by the position of the matter composing them, relative to the heat 
which reduced it to solids. Some rocks were so remote from the fur- 
nace that the sands and flinty particles were not liquefied, but became so. 
infused with- the ascending vapours, that they adhered in solid masses. 
While others were heated to such a degree that all the particles were 
reduced to the same compact substance. We will venture to hazard 
the conjecture, that the subterranean walls which have been discover- 
ed in the state of Georgia, and which have excited great wonder, and 
speculation among the curious, were formed by the liquid matter which 
flowed from the masses of primitive rocks, before they had time to 
cool and become solid. That the stones composing these walls are 
Basaltic many are ready to admit. They are of the same materials 
as the pillars in the Giant's Cause-way, and many others in va*. 
rious parts of Europe. Those of Europe were formed by the liquefied 



56 

elevate the edges of the crater to the greatest 
height. Lateral branches would project from 
this in different directions. 

In some general ranges, are found depres- 
sions, plains, or vallies, of great extent. In 
such places, the rocks and fragments beneath 
did not afford sufficient foundation to support 
such a cumbrous burden; and part of the 
range settled in the abyss from whence it came 
to light. Such depressions were at first cov- 
ered with waters, forming bays or lakes, which 
in process of ages were filled with debris from 
the mountains, or by alluvion, brought to them 
by torrents and subsequent floods. In almost 
every country are some mountains, which rise 
in forms of pyramids unconnected with any 
range. Some of these have arisen in the man- 
ner of one in Mexico in the last century, and 
have assumed their present regular forms, by 
storms washing the debris from their summits 
and sides, and leaving deposits near their base. 

matter being raised perpendicularly, and contracting as it suddenly 
cooled, left interstices between the columns. But the flaming mass 
which flowed from the mountains, aud formed the mysterious walls^ 
flowed in a horizontal direction; and instead of bursting from the 
flaming abyss into the water, forced its way through the .alluvial de- 
posits. As the particles contracted in cooling, eh i neks and interstices 
were formed, similar to those in the cause wa>s in Europe, except 
running in horizontal directions. These interstices in a succession of 
ages have been filled by various mineral deposits, brought b\ streams 
from the alluvion, that have corroded in a degree the surface of the 
stones, and given them the appearance of cement. 



57 

Others have assumed their present form by the 
sinking of the lands around them, while they 
alone rested on foundations which could not be 
shaken. But many of the solitary cliffs, and 
even some distinguished by the appellations of 
mountains, are but fragments of general ran- 
ges, projected to their present station by that 
vast explosion, which must have convulsed the 
earth to its centre. 

PROOF XII. 

Of the masses of Shells deposited on the sides 
of Mountains. 

We introduce the masses of shells, which 
have been discovered on the sides of moun- 
tains in almost every country, as proofs in 
favour of our theory. 

That the deposits of shells on our plains, 
and on many of the mountains, were made by 
currents and floods, we will attempt to show in 
treating of alluvial deposits; but many that are 
situated high on our mountains, must be ac- 
counted for in a different manner. 

They were reposing on the bottom of the 
ocean, not having experienced a sufficient de- 
gree.of decay to cement into rocks, when the 
firm foundations of the deep were broken up, 
and were raised from their native element, 



58 

with the bed on which they reposed, and re- 
main as lasting monuments of the dreadful con- 
vulsions which our planet has experienced.* 

PROOF XIII. 
Of the Ocean receding from the Lands. 

It is evident, that at some remote period of 
the world, the ocean has receded from the land, 
leaving dry great extents of country, over 
which for ages the waves unmolested rolled. 
Of such are the extensive table lands in Sibe- 
ria, in the south west part of the United States, 
and in various other parts of the world. 

That there have been as many as three such 
declensions of the ocean, appears from the 
number of these horizontal plains, rising one 
above another as we depart from the ocean. 
The ascent from one to another is abrupt, 
which shows that the subsidence of the waters 
was sudden. Marks of the waves on rocks 
far above the rise of the ocean at the present 
time, as clearly indicate the retiring of the 

* From the perfect state of many of these shells, we cannot doubt 
but they were enjoying: life at the time when they were transported to 
the places they now occupy. It is probable they were not in such vast 
heaps in the bottom of the ocean as they now are. But tliose which 
were elevated nearer the summits of the mountains,were washed down 
by the retiring waves or subsequent tempests, to the places in which 
they now are found » 



i 



59 

waters. Since records have been kept, we 
have no proofs of the waters receding from 
their former bounds. 

In harbours, the waters have maintained 
their height for many centuries. As they have 
not diminished for more than twenty centuries, 
we must conclude that the cause of their dimi- 
nution has ceased to operate. 

When lands were raised, as has been stated^ 
the waters flowed in to fill the cavities from 
whence they were raised; hence a depression 
in the ocean would be equal to the quantity of 
matter raised from beneath, and remained 
above the surface of the waters. When the 
lands arose, the waters would be propelled to 
and cover the adjacent shores, and when the 
repelling cause no longer existed, the waters 
would retire from the lands on which they had 
been driven, and leave exposed to the air 
much that had been enclosed in their bosom. 

If we estimate the matter in America, which 
is above the level*of the ocean, at five millions of 
cubic miles, and the whole surface of the ocean 
at one hundred and sixty millions of square 
miles, when our continent was raised, five mil- 
lions of cubic miles of water were received into 
the cavities which were left vacant by the as- 
cension of America. By this supposition, the 
waters in the ocean would subside one hundred 



60 

and sixty-five perpendicular feet, leaving lands 
dry on the eastern continent which had pre- 
viously been covered to that depth. But the 
whole of America was not elevated at the same 
time, therefore so great a subsidence in the wa- 
ters has not taken place at any one time. But 
when lands have been projected from the 
deep, when the agitation has subsided, the 
waters have receded from the shores, which 
accounts for the diminution of the waters at 
various periods. Whenever a large extent of 
land has been raised, the ocean has declined 
in proportion to the matter elevated, and when 
islands or parts of continents have sunk, the 
ocean has been raised in the same proportion. 

PROOF XIV. 
Alluvial Formations. 

The alluvial formations, and the various 
species of relics which they contain, afford 
abundant proofs, that the resolutions and ca- 
tastrophes which our world has experienced, 
wtre the effects of the causes we have de- 
scribed. 

From facts recorded by many able and in- 
genious writers, we cannot doubt but the con- 
tinents have several times been partially, and 
once totally covered by waters, and that the 



61 

currents which covered them were violent, 
and flowed in different directions. 

The alluvial deposits on the eastern conti- 
nent, clearly show that the waters which 
drowned the old world, flowed from the south- 
west to the north-east; and Dr. H. H. Hayden, 
in his excellent geological publication has as 
clearly shown, that tire currents which formed 
most of our alluvial soils, flowed from the north- 
east to the south-west 

That the waters which drowned the world, 
should flow in opposite directions, may appear 
inconsistent at the first view of the subject, 
but on an impartial examination, there will be 
no room for doubt. 

We will first attempt to explain more fully 
the cause of the universal deluge, show the 
courses which the waters would naturally flow 
from such a cause, and the effects which they 
would have on the surface of the earth; then 
we will endeavour to explain the causes of the 
subsequent floods, which partially inundated 
the world. 

The universal deluge, as has been stated, 
was caused by the rising of America from the 
ocean. 

At this important crisis, when the founda- 
tions of the ocean were raised, and when, as 
the inspired historian has most elegantly ex- 
6 



62 

pressed it, The fountains of the great deep 
were broken up, the waters must have retired 
in great agitation to the east and west, from 
the sides of the rising continent. 

The length of America being nearly from 
north to south, from the eastern side, the wa- 
ters would be rolled to Europe and Africa, and 
from the western side, they would be driven to 
Asia. South America extending farther to 
the east than North America, would gve the 
current which was to overspread the eastern 
continent, a direction to the north of east. — 
This current bore with violence the shells and 
fishes of the ocean, to the plains and moun- 
tains of Europe, and the vegetables of Europe 
and Africa, to the eastern parts of Asia. There 
the current was met by that which flowed to 
the west from the western coast of America. — 
There each current was stopped in its destruc- 
tive career by opposing each other; and there 
immense deposits were made, as will be here- 
after explained. 

When the fountains of the great deep were 
broken up, and the oce: n above rushed in con- 
tact with ihe flaming ocean beneath, the eva- 
poration must have been immense. 

The winds, before this, as we shall show, 
moved unmolested from east to west, round 
the globe. Then on a sudden they were eb- 



63 

Structed by the towering burning mountains. 
They rolled back, as if astonished at the new 
phenomenon, ladened with the vapours of a 
boiling ocean. Violent must have been the 
conflict between the hot subterranean and the 
cool ethereal particles. The clouds, in their 
sublime evolutions, moved in the direction of 
the waters, to the east and west from Ame- 
rica. 

They met in awful array over the old 
world. There they discharged their burdens. 
There the vapours condensed; and no language 
could be more expressive of the dreadful tor- 
rents that then descended, than that which 
was dictated from above, and which declares, 
that the windows of heaven were opened. 
Forty days were these vapours descending.— 
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon 
the earth, and all the high hills that were 
under the whole heavens were covered. And 
the rain ceased. But an hundred and fifty 
times did the earth revolve in her cumbrous 
mantle, before the waters retired to the ca- 
verns from whence our continent arose. 

•And God made a wind to pass over the 
earth, and the waters assuaged. 

Here the Almighty made use of natural 
means to assuage the waters, and the means 
are perfectly consistent to reason, and agree 



^64 

with the positions we have taken. The winds 
blew in a direction opposite to the courses in 
which the waves and clouds had moved, when 
sent with overwhelming ruin to that guilty 
land. While the waves and clouds were exe- 
cuting their commission, the atmosphere there 
became cold, damp and dense. While here, 
the air was in a great degree rarefied by heat 
from the flaming abyss within, and from the 
burning mountains without. It is as natural 
for the colder atmosphere to flow to warmer 
regions,, as for water ta descend an inclined 
plane. The current of air towards this conti- 
nent hastened the return of the waters. 

Let us pause for a moment, and reflect on 
the situation of this new born continent, and 
the state of the waters, when they returned 
from completing the works of divine justice ou 
a guilty world. There they were accumula- 
ted upwards of four miles in height, to cover 
the highest mountains in Asia. Here were ca- 
vities of equal extent with our continent, and 
of a depth, equal to the height of our moun- 
tains, burning, and literally thirsting for the 
returning waves. The waters rolled back as 
in triumph, accelerated by the pressing winds, 
and loaded with the spoils of a conquered 
world. The huge frame of the elephant, the 
mammoth, and the numerous species of animals 



65 

which had revelled on the plains of the east- 
ern hemisphere, borne on the same surges with 
wretched fallen man, for whose sake all nature 
mourned, together with the carcases of the 
monsters of the deep, were brought as trophies 
of victory to fertilize our shores. The vege- 
tables and seeds of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
were brought to adorn our youthful world. — 
When the conquering and conquered hosts re- 
turned, imagination fails in attempting to form 
a picture of the skeleton of this now blooming 
land. 

From the southern extremity of South Ame- 
rica, as far to the north as the Alleghany and 
Stony mountains extend, were naked burning 
rocks, in some places towering above the 
clouds, resting on fragments of broken rocks 
pendent over caverns deeper than mortal eye 
could fathom. In some places, the foundations 
of mountains sinking beneath cumbrous loads, 
which plunge to lasting oblivion in the gloomy 
abyss which is open to receive them. Thus 
sunk the extensive range, whose highest sum- 
mits now are seen in. the clusters of islands, 
between the Americas. The waves returning 
in mountainous heights, were borne far over 
the lands, and dashed against the sides of the 
lofty mountains. The steam issuing from the 
caverns, and the rocks supporting the conti- 
6* 



66 

nent, prevented the waters from sinking sud- 
denly into the veins and cavities of the earth; 
but in surge after surge they rolled over our 
plains. The fleshy parts of the numerous 
species of animals which were brought from 
the old world, were dissolved, or torn from 
the solids which were scattered along our 
shores, and even over onr highest plains* The 
muscular parts of the larger species, as the 
mammoth, whale, &c. longer bound the bones 
together, that in some places the bones of such 
animals have been found nearly entire.™ 
The smaller species, and even some of those 
whose magnitude almost exceeds the bounds of 
human conception, were broken against the 
naked cliffs, and, in detached pieces, were de- 
posited iii innumerable places in the new 
world. Hence we have the cause of the in- 
dividual bones of the ekphant, and of the nu- 
merous species which inhabited the old world, 
mingled with those of the monsters of the 
deep, being found along our shores, and bu- 
ried beneath our alluvion, many hundred miles 
from the present bounds of the ocean. 



67 



PROOF XV, 

Of the Alluvial Deposits made by the General 
Deluge. 

There is no criterion by which we can bet- 
ter judge of the direction in which the currents 
flowed, than by the alluvial deposits which 
they made. In tracing the courses of the cur- 
rents, by which the alluvial formations were 
made, it is necessary, first, to observe in what 
situations deposits would be made by violent 
currents* 

1st. If a current flows directly against a 
mountain, and is not of sufficient height to pass 
the summit, the alluvion will be placed at the 
base of the mountain on the side opposed to 
the current. 

2d. If the current is of sufficient depth to 
pass over the hill or mountain, the alluvion 
will be deposited at the base and on the sides 
of the hills or mountains, opposite to those 
which were presented to the current. 

3d. If a current flows obliquely against a 
mountain, and passes by, and the land is over- 
flowed on the opposite side, there will be a 
calm, and the alluvion will be deposited there. 

4th. If two currents meet from opposite di- 
rections, of equal force, the deposits will be 
made at and near the point of contact* 



68 

5th* If two currents meet in oblique direc- 
tions, the alluvion will be deposited in an an- 
gular point, half way between the two cur- 
rents, had they passed uninterrupted. 

With these propositions, which are easily 
demonstrated by the laws of motion, the va- 
rious alluvial deposits can be accounted for, if 
the currents flowed in the directions we have 
stated. 

1st. The currents that overflowed Europe 
and Africa, came from the south-west, as has 
been stated, and was of sufficient depth 
to overtop the mountains.. Hence, the 
western coasts of those quarters of the world, 
were stripped of their coverings, left naked 
and bold, while the alluvia were deposited on 
the east and north east of the mountains. — 
This is the state of these countries. The cur- 
rent moved with such force and velocity, that 
rocks were torn from the mountains, and left 
in countries remote from their native strata. 
Hence, the rocks from the Alps and other 
mountains are found embedded in the alluvia 
many hundred miles distant. The current 
had force to burst through the solid earth, and 
excavate vast seap and gulphs. Hence, Eng- 
land was severed from France, and Ireland 
from Scotland and England, as the rocks and 
clefts on either side bear incontrovertible 



69 

testimony that they were once united. When 
the current rushed over the Norwegian Alps, 
it excavated the bed of the Baltic sea; when it 
passed the Alpines, it formed the gulf of Ve- 
nice; from the high lands in England and Scot- 
land it rushed, and bare away the soil which 
filled the space now occupied by the North sea; 
from the summits of the Carpathian moun- 
tains it rolled, and formed the basins for the 
Black and Azof seas; from the Lybian moun- 
tains, the channel of the Red oca was formed. 
In rushing from the summits of Taurus and 
Caucasus, the Caspian sea was formed. From 
the mountains of the moon it flowed to exca- 
vate the sea of Arabia. It rolled over the 
Gaut mountains, and made the bed for the sea 
of Bengal. Many tracts of land, now islands, 
were torn from the main land by the same ir- 
resistible current, Madagascar was rent from 
Caifraria, Ceylon from Hindostan, and many 
other seas and channels were formed at the 
same eventful crisis.* 

*By this hypothesis we are induced to believe, that the eastern 
continent before the deluge was much more extensive than it now is. 
When the beds of the seas were excavated, they were much more 
extensive than they now are. This will appear when we treat more 
particularly of the alluvial deposits. We believe and shall attempt to 
prove, that the Mediterranean sea was formed by the subsidence of 
that part of the earth. We believe many chasms were formed by the 
current we have described, and that the same have since been filled 
by alluvia. Of such, we believe, there were a number in France, 
made by the waters precipitating from the Pyrenees. These were 



70 

As the currents from America flowed over 
Europe laden with the shells of the ocean, 
many of these were deposited where eddies 
and calms were formed by projecting moun- 
tains. Most of the vegetables of Europe were 
borne by the surges to the eastern parts of 
Asia. But whole forests were buried in Eu- 
rope. In England and Ireland subterranean 
forests are common. These forests are pros- 
trated to the east, or north of east, and are 
Covered to a great depth with marine shells, 
and various other deposits. They are in such 
a situation, as the currents we have described 
would leave them. But such of the vegetables 

filled as the waters returned, as will be explained, and by which the 
many strata of alluvia near Paris can be accounted for. By this theory 
the cause of Europe's being more cut up by seas and bays, than other 
parts of the world can be explained. The mountains in Europe lay 
more opposed to the current than those of Africa or the interior of 
Asia. In Asia and Africa, the principal ranges of mountains run from 
nearly east to west, or about in direction with the current, that the 
waters did not pour over them with such force, as they did over those 
which lay from south to north. If reliance can be placed on the reports 
of travellers, there is not a mountain on the eastern continent, west of 
those in Kamtschatka, but has a gulf or a sea on the east or north 
east side of it, or an extensive alluvion, bearing evident marks of 
their once being a cavity for a lake or sea. There are none on the 
west of such mountains. The sea of Ochotsk, was formed by the 
current which moved to the west from America, and precipitating 
from the mountains of Kamtschatka. The barriers over which the 
waters rushed to form the Yellow sea, were the mountains in 
China, those to form the Gulf of Siam, Aye re in Malaya, those to 
form the Chinese sea, were in Cochin China. The mountains of 
Sumatra, made the water wear the Straits of Malacca, and separated 
the island from the mainj those of Arabia formed the Persian gulfc 



71 

both of Europe and Africa, as were not instant- 
ly covered, were conveyed to the eastern parts 
of Asia, and when the two currents which en- 
compassed the globe there met, they both were 
stopped, and there the greatest deposits were 
made. The masses of vegetable mould, seve- 
ral hundred feet in thickness, in China, bear 
witness of these deposits. And the extensive 
strata of coal found in alluvion in those regions, 
are no less subtantial testimony than the 
former.* 

As the waters returned from the eastern 
parts of Asia, when God caused a wind to 
assuage them, they moved over Europe 
with less velocity than they did when they 
destroyed every animal and every green thing. 
In their return, far greater deposits were made 
than when they advanced. The waters were 

* It is believed, that the numerous strata of coal, which are found 
in almost every country on the globe, are formed of the vegetable 
productions of the antedeluvian world. These productions were col- 
lected in extensive masses by the whirling currents, were jammed and 
dashed in pieces by the tumultuous waves, were overwhelmed br 
Surges loaded with shells, sand, and clay, sunk in the earth, and un- 
dergoing a degree of fermentation, were converted from wood, bark, 
iand leaves, to their present state. Though forests have been discovered 
far beneath the surface of the earth, which were doubtless buried at 
the same time, yet remain entire. This does not prove but coal may 
have been formed as has been stated, and whole timber preserved 
its primitive properties. Where forests were swept down and co» 
vered in an instant; where separate trees were surrounded by solid 
earth, or exuviae they would be far less liable to undergo any chemical 
change, than if they had been bruised and beaten into one almost solid 
mass, 



72 

loaded with soil. Many of the caverns which 
were made by their former rapid motions, were 
lessened, or wholly filled.* Much of the ani- 
mal and vegetable remains which were swept to 
the east, were now returned towards the west, 
and where the velocity of the waters was 
retarded, or a calm or eddy produced by op- 
posing mountains, deposits were made. Coal 
mines are found in every nation of Europe. 
In some places the strata are horizontal, in 
others they have different degrees of inclina- 
tion, depending solely on the situation of the 
surface on which they rested. 

Marie and gypsum are likewise found in al- 
most every section of the world. These like- 
wise are the deposits of the deluge. Shells^ 
and other animal remains, gathered by the 
wayes in extensive masses, as were the vegeta- 
bles, were broken and pulverized by the whirl- 
ing eddies, settled in heaps and strata when 
the waters subsided, and condensed into their 
present state, by a similar process as formed 
the coal. Thus gypsum was formed. 

The remains of which marie was composed, 
were less exposed to the dashing of currents 
against rocks; they were preserved in a more 
perfect state. 

* That the basins of the Black sea, sea ot" Azof, and of the Caspian 
sea, were much larger than they now are, all travellers agree. 



T3 

Strata of coal are often found mingled with 
gypsum, the union took place, while this matter 
composing them was tossed to and fro by the 
waves. 

. Strata of coal are found reposing on beds of 
gypsum. There the animal remains forming 
the gypsum had been conveyed and settled in 
the calm, or were swallowed in a vortex, before 
the vegetable mass was transported to its des- 
tined rest. Gypsum is found resting on strata 
of coal. Here the order of deposits was but 
inverted. 

Some strata of lime-stone may have been 
formed in a similar manner. Beds of shells, 
by these currents, were collected and deposi- 
ted, not only on plains and vallies, but even on 
the sides and summits of the highest mountains 
in the old world. Many strata of alluvion may 
have been formed by the currents and coun- 
ter currents during the deluge. 

Lakes of fresh water, which for centuries 
had been making deposits, were instantly 
filled with salt water remains. Channels of 
rivers were stopped up, and the cavities in 
the mountains were filled with the animal and 
vegetable remains, which the agitated waters 
had reduced to an undistinguished mass. The 
remains of man, of the lion, tiger, hyena, and 
the fell monsters of land and sea, found one 
7 



74 

common grave. Thus the face of nature was 
completely changed, and the old world was 
literally destroyed. The carcases of the animals 
of Africa and Europe, were transported to the 
north and east of Asia, while the returning 
current brought the animals of Asia to Europe, 
Africa, and America. The fishes which have 
been known to inhabit only the waters near the 
coasts of the Sandwich islands, were transpor- 
ted half the circumference of the globe, and 
even round from the east to Europe and Ame- 
rica, where their remains are now found, to 
the admiration of the curious. 

We will again follow the course of the re- 
turning current to America, and trace its ef- 
fects over our plains, and among the moun- 
tains. Here we are to expect to find the al- 
luvion differently located from what it was on 
the eastern continent. There the first depo- 
sits were made by a current which flowed 
above the mountains, which left its burdens, as 
well as excavated the earth on the sides oppo- 
site to the one which resisted its fury.* When 

* It is evident that a torrent of water, when it is precipitated from 
a mountain as from a dam, Mould make large excavations in the earth, 
where the force of the water was exerted or opposed. When the plain 
or valley was filled with water as high as the summit of the mountain, 
and the current continued to flow in the same direction, it would no 
longer beat upon the earth; and that section of the water protected 
by the mountain would be at rest; there the soil and exuvice, wliich 
had been borne over the mountains, would settle, and there we should 



75 

the waters arrived at our continent, the 
mountains presented an insuperable barrier 
to the waves. Surge propelled surge near 
to the summits. Vast quantities of the ani- 
mal and vegetable remains of the old world 
were brought to our lands. Extensive drifts 
of timber, the productions of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa, were forced high on the mountains; 
succeeding surges covered them with soil and 
the shells of fishes; and wherever these depo- 
sits were made, are now to be discovered rich 
mines of coal. Some of these drifts were bu- 
ried on the plains where eddies were produced 
by opposing mountains. 

expect to find thick alluvial formations. By these deposits, as well as 
by the returning current, the bounds of the seas, &c. formed by the 
currents have been much diminished. We find that uniformly, be- 
tween the seas and gulfs we have mentioned, and the mountains, there 
are deep alluvial formations. On both sides of hills and mountains 
not so high as to obstruct the waters in their return, are extensive al- 
luvial formations. At the base of some mountains there is no allu- 
vion. This is the case in regard to the mountains on the south-east 
coast of Africa. There the soil which was carried over the moun- 
tains, was swept away by the current which flowed from the Cape of 
Good Hope to the north-east. Perhaps no place will more clearly elu- 
cidate the effect of these counter currents, than the peninsula of Hin- 
dostan. There the waters pouring over the Gaut mountains, formed 
the sea of Bengal. When the basin was filled as high as the tops of 
the mountains, that alluvion began to be deposited; the current flow- 
ing by cape Comorin to the north-east, prevented the alluvion from 
extending to the east near the southern part. The current kept open 
the straits between Ceylon and the main, and moving to the north- 
east, left a wider space to be filled with alluvion on the east of the 
mountains, in the centre of Hindostan. 



re 

The remains of the larger animals, are 
more generally found on the plains or in the 
vallies. If they were left on the sides of 
mountains, they would be liable to be washed, 
by rains and tempests, with the soil, to lower 
situations, while the masses of vegetables, many 
miles in extent, would resist the force of show- 
ers, and retain, by their irregularities, the soil 
that covered them. 

Many of the ruins of the old world, are now 
far beneath our continent, and even beneath, 
the strata which form its base. 

After the first dashing of the waves had 
subsided, currents were formed into the 
gloomy caverns from whence our continent 
arose. As vortices were formed wherever 
openings were presented, we must conclude, 
that immense quantities of exuvice were drawn 
into their devouring jaws.* 

But it will be inquired, "How the numerous 
remains of animals were conveyed to the west 
of the Alleghany mountains and deposited in the 
vale of the Mississippi, and through the western 
states, if the mountains proved an insuperable 
barrier to the returning waves?" That there 

* Such is the celebrated vortex of Scylla. The waters which are 
swallowed there, are conveyed in rents, beneath the ocean to where 
the burning caverns of iEtna turn them to vapour, and throw them 
forth in clouds from its flaming crater. 



77 

are more animal and vegetable remains to the 
west, than to the east of the Alleghany moun- 
tains, is a fact too well authenticated to admit 
of a solitary doubt, and a fact, which, on ex« 
amination, goes directly to prove the state- 
ments we have made. 

It has been stated, that the north-east part 
of North America was not raised from the 
ocean, when that part ascended which pro- 
duced the general deluge. 

When the old world was destroyed, Ameri- 
ca, as far as the Andes, the Alleghany and 
Stony mountains extend, was made to appear. 
The Alleghany range terminates in about forty 
eight degrees north. The Stony mountains 
extend to nearly seventy degrees. All that 
part of the continent which lies north of the 
lakes, and the river St. Lawrence at the time 
of the deluge, was in the bed of the ocean. 
The Alleghany mountains extending from 
south-west to north-east, and the Stony moun- 
tains from south-east to north-west, and the 
Alleghany terminating nearly two thousand 
miles short of the Stony mountains, presented 
a coast running from south-east to north-west 
nearly four thousand miles in extent, and in 
the most favourable situation for the reception 
of the waves and relics, which were rolled 
from the north part of Asia, which was then 
7* 



78 

the most populous and fertile part of the 
earth. 

The Alleghany and Stony mountains ap- 
proach each other towards the south; they 
received the currents from Asia as in a fun- 
nel; and perhaps no part of the world was 
more affected by the deluge than this section 
of our country. 

The accumulation of animals and vegetables 
which were driven between these mountains^ 
were constantly raised, as their barriers to the 
east and west approached each other, till the 
whole current was obstructed by the surges 
which flowed into the Gulf of Mexico. Here 
were no rents through the strata to suffer 
the waters to flow into the cavities below the 
dry land. 

The masses of timber were strewed over the 
sides of the mountains; the remains of the 
mammoth, the elephant, and of man were de- 
posited there, and strata of ♦solid earth, many 
feet in thickness, rested upon them, from which 
the labour of man and the washing of rivers 
are almost daily bringing them to light. 

The strata of coal which are found on the 
mountains, were formed by the drifts of timber 
which were deposited there. 

The various quarries of gypsum were loca- 



79 

ted there, as in other places which have been 
mentioned. 

There being more deposits to the west than 
to the east of the Alleghany mountains, is a 
proof that many remains which were brought 
to our eastern shores were swallowed by the 
vortices, which conveyed them to the dreary 
abyss from whence our continent was thrown. 

From the premises we have assumed, the 
way to the causes of the following effects is 
easy and plain. 

1st. The cause of the ascent to the summit 
of our mountains and cliffs on the east side, 
being regular and easy, while the west are 
precipitate and bold. 

The current that returned to the eastern 
part of this continent, having flowed over the 
extensive plains of Asia, Europe, and Africa, 
was loaded with much more soil and relics, 
than that which flowed across the Pacific 
ocean. The former having performed more 
than half its course over mountains and vallies, 
broken by the violence of torrents from the 
windows of heaven, and from the fountains 
of the great deep; the latter had rolled an 
equal distance through the Great Pacific, 
scarcely interrupted in any part of its career 
by opposing lands. Hence, more alluvion was 
brought to our coasts from the east than from 



80 

the west, and was thrown over our plains, and 
even to the summits of many of our mountains. 

2d. The cause of the capes on the east of 
America, and west of Europe and Africa, be- 
ing uniformly turned southerly; while those on 
other coasts? are as regularly inclined in an 
opposite direction. 

The alluvial formations at the capes, were 
made when the waters returned from the de- 
struction of the old world; and the waves roll- 
ing over the solid parts of the capes, deposited 
the alluvion on the south-west of the promon- 
tories. The other current returning in an op- 
posite direction, formed the alluvion of the 
capes, on the north-east sides of the moun- 
tains. 

3d. Why some islands are thickly covered 
with rich alluvion, while others are left with 
scarcely soil sufficient to support the smallest 
growth of vegetation. 

The islands in the great southern ocean, 
most of those in the Pacific, and many in high 
latitudes to the north, are almost wholly desti* 
tute of soil. These islands being scattered in 
extensive oceans, not defended by any conside- 
rable mountain from the fury of the waves, 
were divested of the soil by the currents pass- 
ing rapidly over them, when flowing in both 
directions. 



81 

But the islands situated near the coasts, 
and defended by the mountains of the conti- 
nent, are in general distinguished by a deep 
and fertile soil. Such are Madagascar, Cey- 
lon, and many others which were equally 
defended. The islands near the coasts, east 
and south east of Asia, have, from the earliest 
ages, been noted for their rich and luxuriant 
soil. Where these islands are situated, trie 
currents which encompassed the globe came 
in contact, and here they deposited much of 
their burdens. On these islands, coal in 
abundance is found, and vegetable mould seems 
inexhaustible. 

While the islands of Austral Asia are fer- 
tile in the extreme, many of the islands of 
Polynesia, situated in the same latitude, are 
barren and desolate** 

* The Sandwich isles, and several individual clusters in the Paci* 
fie, are represented as fertile. But it is generally believed by navi- 
gators, that such islands are volcanic productions, are of recent for- 
mation, compared with many others, and have doubtless arisen 
since the deluge. Thus they retain all the debris of their own moun- 
tains, which renders them abundantly productive. Islands have been 
formed by two different operations of nature, or of nature's agents— 
by internal fires, and the coral. The latter in their works are slow 
and steady, the former is instantaneous, 



82 



PROOF XVI. 



Of Inundations subsequent to the General 
Deluge. 

We have on record accounts of three floods, 
which partially inundated the globe several 
eenturies after the general calamity, when all 
flesh suffered, and every green thing was de- 
stroyed. 

Partial inundations may have been occasion- 
ed by the subsidence of lands as well as by their 
elevation. A part of a continent, or a large 
island settling into the deep abyss from which 
it arose, would agitate the waters, and propel 
the surges over the adjacent lands. When 
lands are depressed into the deep, the waters 
will not return to their former bounds, but will 
be raised in proportion to the quantity of 
matter which has been depressed. 

The Flood of Oxyges. 

Four hundred and fifty-two years after God 
saw fit to drown the old world, the flood of 
Oxyges took place. 

The situation of the world at that time was 
such, that large islands may have arisen, or a 
great part of a continent may have submerged, 
and no account of the catastrophe be transmit- 



83 

ted to posterity, or no more of the effects than 
fell under the immediate observation of a few 
individuals. 

The greater part of space occupied by the 
waves of the Mediterranean, if we may judge 
from the observations of enlightened and 
inquiring travellers, bears evident marks of 
once being covered with land, and that by 
some convulsion of nature, it has been in- 
volved in the waters. By the subsidence of a 
small part of the land which filled that exten- 
sive basin, the waters would have been driven 
over the south-east part of Europe, and west 
part of Asia, and the affrighted survivors 
would not surmise from what cause the waters 
were put in motion. What effects that flood 
had on the adjacent countries in Africa, and 
on the west of those in Europe, is not known; 
and it is more than probable, that those sec- 
tions of the world were not inhabited. 

From the few accounts we have of that cala- 
mity, and from the situation of the countries 
which were overflowed, we are induced to be- 
lieve that the flood of Oxyges was occasioned 
by the submersion of the lands, formerly occu- 
pying a part of the channel now covered by 
the Mediterranean; and that no lands but 
those bordering on the coasts of that sea, ex- 
perienced any inconvenience from the event. 



84* 



Flood in Ethiopia. 

One hundred and eighty-eight years after 
the flood of Oxy^es, an inundation took place 
in Ethiopia, and we have no account of this 
flood in any other part of the world. 

The prophet Isaiah alludes to this catas- 
trophe, when in speaking of the country, Ethi- 
opia, he calls it, The country iphose lands the 
rivers have spoiled. 

The Chronicle of Axium is the most ancient 
repository of the antiquities of that country, a 
book considered as first in authority after the 
Holy Scriptures; it says, that Ethiopia was 
laid waste by a flood, and the face of the 
country much changed and deformed, so that 
it was denominated (Jure JMidre, or the coun- 
try laid waste. Other historians speak of this 
flood in Eihiopia also, and it must have been 
well known in the times of Isaiah. 

The situation of Ethiopia is remote from any 
ocean, and could not have been directly over- 
flowed by the agitation of waters, occasioned 
by either the elevation or submersion of land. 
But the elevation of lands by a secondary 
cause, could have produced the flood here 
spoken of. It is evident, from the account we 
have of that event, that it was not produced 
by the waves of the ocean, but by the rise of 



85 

rivers; and we cannot conceive that rivers in 
that warm climate, would have arisen above 
their usual periodical height, but by an unu- 
sual fail of rain. Then why should more rain 
be poured out upon that country? at that parti- 
cular time, than in any period since, or be- 
fore, except at the universal deluge? Singular 
effects must arise from singular causes* 

When from the position of the sun in the 
ecliptic, in regard to the mountains of Ethio- 
pia, the current of air is brought in an oblique 
direction against them, the vapours which are 
brought by this current are condensed against 
the sides of the mountains, and cause their pe- 
riodical rains. These rains raise the Nile, 
and other rivers in Africa. 

Then may we not indulge the conjecture, 
that at the period when New 7 Holland was 
summoned to appear, that the vapours which 
arose from the ocean, when the waves were 
repelled by the fire which had force to elevate 
so extensive a country, were borne by the re- 
gular trade winds to Africa, and there conden- 
sing as they inclined against the mountains, 
were the cause of the rivers spoiling the 
lands. 

New Holland is situated so remote from 
Africa, that the agitation of the waters occa- 
sioned by its ascension, would have so much 
8 



86 

subsided before they reached the east coast of 
Africa, that they would not have inundated 
that part of the world. Besides, the vast ex- 
tent of ocean to the south-east and west from 
New Holland, offered a free passage to the 
water, that no country was essentially injured 
by the rolling surges. 

Of the Deucaleon Flood. 

Eighty-six years after the flood in Ethiopia, 
that of Deucaleon happened. 

It is not dou'Jted by travellers, but that Af- 
rica once extended farther to the north than it 
now does; and that that part which extended 
from cape Bon to cape Razat, has settled in 
the ocean at some unknown period. When 
that section of land descended, the waters 
were repelled, and flowed in a direct line to 
Thessaly, and deluged that country. This was 
the Deucaleon flood, and this was the cause of 
that inundation, 

Many other partial floods, of which we have 
no account, may have taken place in othercoun- 
tries, and assisted in the alluvial formations, 
which begin to attract the attention of the cu- 
rious and learned, and which will open an ex- 
tensive field to geological inquiry Such in- 
undations may have assailed districts; and 



87 

none be left to report the calamity. Many 
barbarous tribes may have been buried beneath 
a flood, and no monument of their existence 
remain. 

If the dry land was caused to appear, as has 
been stated, and various parts of the earth 
have been elevated at different periods, we 
must expect that great changes have taken 
place on their surface since their ascension. 

Before vegetation commenced its growth, 
when the soil was not bound by roots, nor de- 
fended by leaves and brambles, storms would 
carry much soil and debris from the mountains, 
and deposit them in the vallies and abysses 
between the broken cliffs. When rivers began 
to flow, they formed lakes and ponds in val- 
lies, which continued to rise, till, overflowing, 
or bursting their barriers, they rushed to 
others, and with accumulated force, opened a 
passage to the ocean. By such operations of 
the elements, fragments of mountains have 
been undermined, and precipitated from ele- 
vated stations, have broken, and thrown in- 
ferior rocks to great distances from where 
they were first deposited. As water filtra- 
ted through chinks of rocks and mountains to 
form springs, by degrees it has worn away the 
foundations of incumbent strata, which settled 
into the caverns, and occasioned many depres- 



88 

sions in the sides and summits of mountains. 
Rivers have changed their courses, and in 
forming new channels, have deposited more 
alluvion in the still waters where they disem- 
bogued. Vegetable mould has in many places 
been borne by currents, and left on lower soils, 
where now various strata are distinctly seen. 

When fire, the servant of the Most High^ 
had performed his office in raising lands for 
the habitation of the nobler animals, the water 
and air commenced their operations to mould 
and polish them for the comforts and conveni- 
ences of his creatures. These operations are 
daily continued, and though they may prove 
injurious to some, yet they increase the hap- 
piness of the general whole. 

# 
JL Flood ivas produced by the rise of the north- 

east part of North America. 

It may be considered presumption to intro- 
duce arguments to prove a position founded on 
conjecture. But when witnesses, collected 
from various directions, voluntarily rise and tes- 
tify to a fact, we cannot be so sceptical as not 
to listen to their testimony, though we have no 
records, and but a ray of tradition to support 
us. 

Such is the case as it regards the flood which 
we believe has taken place in North America, 



89 

long since the general deluge, and the subse- 
quent floods which we have mentioned, and 
which partially inundated the globe. 

We believe that this flood was occasioned 
by the rise of the north-east part of America, 
whieh lies north and north-east of the great 
chain of lakes, including Labrador, New-Bri- 
tain, North and South Wales, and all the re- 
gions from the termination of the Stony Moun- 
tains, to where the Alleghany range disappears 
near the river St. Lawrence. 

The reasons we have to induce us to be- 
lieve that such a flood or event Jhas taken 
place, are, 

First. The whole strata of rocks, and ranges 
of mountains, south and south-west of this 
section of the continent, extend nearly from 
north to south; and the strata and mountains 
north and north-east of the lakes have no 
appearance of ever having been united with 
the more southern ranges, and uniformly run 
from east to west. 

Second. In that part of the continent re- 
cently raised from the ocean, there are no al- 
luvial deposits, which would have been as 
numero; s and as great there as in any other 
part of America, if that section had been as 
long above the bed of the ocean, and conse- 



90 

quently been subject to the same currents and 
inundations. 

Third. By the rise of that part of America, 
a flood would have been occasioned, which in 
its progress would have formed an alluvion^ 
perfectly coinciding with the various strata 
found in the more southern parts of North 
America. 

Fourth. The Aborigines of North America 
have traditions of a flood, which more resem- 
bles the one we have mentioned, than the 
general deluge. 

With such grounds for our conjectures, we 
will proceed to examine the effects which such 
a flood would have on our continent, and com- 
pare them with those which are known to exist. 

Labrador and Greenland, extending many 
degrees to the east of that part of the conti- 
nent which was first raised, in their ascension 
would have propelled the waters of the At- 
lantic to the south in great agitation, and like- 
wise would have poured an irresistible current 
over most of the lands of the United States. 

When the last raised section united to the 
one which had been formerly elevated, there 
would be appearances of chasms or fissures. 
This is the appearance along the whole 
line of lakes, from Ontario to Slave Lake, and 
even down the St. Lawrence and M'Kenzie's 



91 

Rivers from the Atlantic to the Arctic 
Ocean. 

M'Kenzie, Hearne, and others, who have 
traversed the dreary wilds north and north- 
west of the lakes, coincide in describing the 
face of the country as almost entirely destitute 
of alluvion, and state that in many places to 
a vast extent nothing appears but naked rocks. 
If this section of the continent had been as 
long exposed to frosts and tempests as the 
others, there would have been sufficient de- 
bris and soil to support vegetation. 

When that section of country was elevated, 
the waters which covered it, rushed to the 
south and south-east, and swept by their tu- 
multuous surges, the soil and all loose parti- 
■ cles from the surface, and transported them to 
more southern regions. As the sea flowed 
from the elevated surface, and precipitated 
against the lands which had been raised be- 
fore, it would make vast cavities, and trans- 
port the soil and even rocks to a distance from 
where they had been located. The basins of 
the great chain, of lakes were chiefly formed 
and fashioned by this current, and the matter 
which was swept from their beds is now wit- 
nessed in the vast banks of alluvion to the 
south of their present bounds. In some parts 
of the lakes, the waters are represented as al- 



92 

most unfathomable. In such places, the sound- 
ing was attempted between the strata of the 
two sections raised at different periods.— 
Doubtless many such chasms exist through the 
basins of the whole chain of lakes. 

Dr. S. L. Mitchill, to whom we are indebt- 
ed for many facts in geology, informs us, that 
along the south coasts of the lakes there are so 
many marine remains, that it cannot be doubt- 
ed but for a long time the salt waters rolled 
their proud waves there. This period was 
before the north-east section of our country 
was elevated. 

It is likewise the opinion of the same learned 
Doctor, and of others, whose names do honour 
to science, that the whole extent of flat coun- 
try round the lakes, was, for many centuries, 
covered by waters forming an inland sea; and 
that this sea continued to rise till it overflowed 
the lands in various places, wore channels 
through the mountains, and rushed to the At- 
lantic ocean. Hence, the breaches through 
the mountains, in which the Hudson, Susque- 
hannah, Delaware, &c. flow, were formed. 

We beg leave to differ from this opinion in 
some respects. If the inland sea existed as 
they suppose, and it continued to rise regu- 
larly for a length of time, till it overflowed the 
mountains, the barriers must have been of the 



93 

same height in all the places where breaches 
were made, or they would not have been over- 
flowed at the same time. The mountains are 
not of the same height in these various places, 
therefore could not have been overflowed at 
the same time by a regular rise of the sea; 
for, when the waters surmounted the moun- 
tains where they were the lowest, at that place 
the waters would flow off, a channel would be 
formed, so that the sea would not rise higher, 
and but one breach would be made. If the 
sea had first burst over the high lands, where 
the Hudson, or any one of the other rivers now 
flows, there must have been a depression of 
the waters in that place, and all the waters 
in the sea would have inclined to that place, 
and the pressure in other places would have 
been diminished, that no more rents could 
have been made from this sea. 

But the rents must have been made by a 
sudden rise of the waters, and by a pressure 
so violent, that the solid strata of the moun- 
tains, where the rivers now flow, were torn 
asunder at the same time. This sudden rise 
and irresistible pressure, were the effects of 
the rise of that part of America north of the 
lakes. 

Previous to this inundation, the situation of 
North America was very different from what it 



94 

is at the present time. The ocean extended 
much nearer to the bases of the mountains 
than at present, so that most of the plains along 
the coasts of the Atlantic were then covered 
by the waters of the deep. The gulf of Mex- 
ico then covered a great part of the Floridas, 
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, &c. On the 
north- r*est of the Alleghany range of moun- 
tains, there was an extensive sea-coast from 
Nova Scotia to the northern termination of the 
Stony mountains. Rivers flowed from the 
north-west sides of the Alleghany mountains 
into this ocean. The higher plains and sides 
of mountains were covered with forests. The 
continent had become the abode of many spe- 
cies of the brute creation, and man had found 
a residence here. 

The effects of the flood we have mentioned, 
are to be traced in the various windings of our 
sea coast, in the bays, rivers, and alluvial for- 
mations in every part of our country* 

When the northern lands arose, from La- 
brador and Greenland, a heavy current was 
sent to the south in the Atlantic, which flowed 
along our coasts. From the more western re- 
gions, a torrent which swept over the lands 
was sent forth. The current which flowed 
down the ocean being unobstructed by barri- 
ers; preceded the one which rolled over the 



95 

lands: and where these two currents met along 
the coasts, alluvial deposits were made. 

When the torrents poured over the moun- 
tains, between New Brunswick and Maine on 
the south-east, and Canada on the north-west, 
it excavated most of the basin of the bay of 
Fundy. Nova Scotia rested on strata not to 
be shaken. When the current which rushed 
over the lands came in contact with that of the 
ocean, the extensive sand banks, south and 
south-east of Nova Scotia were formed. The 
torrent moved over the New England states in 
awful grandeur, rolling rucks from the moun- 
tains, and driving them in broken fragments 
along the plains. Hence we have a cause of 
the many rounded stones being strewed over 
that part of the continent; and likewise the 
cause of there being but little soil, and allu- 
vial deposits in the north east parts of the 
Union. South of Massachusetts, Rhode Isl- 
and, and Connecticut, the torrent which rolled 
over the land encountered, nearly at right an- 
gles, the swelling ones which moved along the 
ocean. Long Island is the effect of their junc- 
tion; and the sand banks south of cape Malabar 
are the deposits made by that part of the cur- 
rent which flowed over the east parts of Mas- 
sachusetts, and was obstructed by the ocean. 



96 

Hence, we hav^ a cause of the alluvion of 
Long Island, being composed chiefly of round- 
ed pebbles. That a heavy current flowed 
from the east to the west, along the ocean 
south of New England, at the time Long Island 
was formed, appears from this* The island 
not extending 30 far to the east as the main 
land, shows that a force from the east, more 
powerful than from the north, urged the soil and 
remains, which were borne by the currents 
further to the west, than if the current from 
the north had been resisted by an ocean in 
tranquillity. 

In the tract of country through which Con- 
necticut river flows, are the vestiges of many 
small lakes, which have been partially filled by 
alluvion. These were filled at the period 
above alluded to, and the channels of many 
smaller rivers were covered, and that in which 
the grand Connecticut rolls his waves, was 
then formed. 

In various parts of New England, large 
stones and rocks have been found in alluvion, 
many miles from the strata to which they evi- 
dently once belonged. These were moved at 
the same time that the lakes were filled. 

The current of the ocean overspread all the 
low lands of the Atlantic states, and was 
enjoying uninterrupted dominion where our 



97 

largest cities, delightful plantations, and lux- 
uriant farms, now appear. But suddenly its 
regal sway, its imperial authority, was attack- 
ed. The waters which had been confined be- 
yond the mountains, as if ambitious of a no- 
bler sway, now burst the bounds that had 
confined them, and with an irresistible impe- 
tuosity rushed to attack the ocean, which had 
extended beyond his natural domains, and pre- 
sumed to assault th^ mountains. 

The majestic Hudson elated by the conquest 
of the firm barriers that confined him, armed 
with the soil and fragments of the mountains 
he had conquered, in awful grandeur, over- 
spreading the country, dared dispute the power 
of the ocean. Accelerated by the numerous 
auxiliaries from the mountains, and strength- 
ened by arming himself with every rock that 
opposed his passage, the ocean himself retired 
at his approach. 

But from the attack of the powerful Hud- 
son, who moved from the mountains of free- 
dom, the tyrant ocean would have held his 
dominion over the most luxuriant parts of the 
middle and southern states. He would have 
extended Long island to the highlands of Jer- 
sey, and destined the site of the emporium of 
the new world to be a stagnant marsh or a 
barren plain. But Hudson turned the proud 
9 



98 

currents of the ocean to the south, removed 
the sands and rocks which would have united 
the island to the maine, and preserved a har- 
bour unequalled in the world. 

The alluvion on which the city of New-York 
is situated was formed at the time when the 
Hudson rushed to the ocean. It was opposed 
by a current from the east. The river then 
overspread all the flat country, and bearing 
debris, stones, and rocks in its current, when 
obstructed in a degree by the current of the 
ocean which flowed through the sound, it de- 
posited much of its burden in the angular 
point between the currents. But most of the 
debris, stones, &c. which were brought from 
the mountains by the Hudson were deposited 
on the Jersey shore, and appear in the exten- 
sive alluvion which forms the southern part of 
that state. The current of the ocean inclined 
that of the Hudson to the west, and both being 
obstructed, the alluvion was formed to the west 
of the channel of the Hudson. 

The greater part of the state of New-York 
at that time was inundated. The extensive 
plains of alluvion were then formed, and to 
that event it owes the fertility of its soil. 

The alluvion on which Troy and Lansing- 
burg have their delightful situations, was 
formed by the soil, brought by the Mohawk 



99 

river, and when its current was obstructed by 
the Hudson the deposits were made on the east 
side of the latter. There is not a plain or valley, 
lake or river, or alluvial formation in the state 
of New York, which has fallen under the 
author's observation, but bears testimony in 
favour of this inundation having taken place. 
The various strata through which is cut the 
Grand Canal, the pride of America, the im- 
mortal glory of its projectors, bear incontro- 
vertible proofs that such revolutions have 
taken place. 

The Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. 

After the current of the ocean had been 
checked in its progress to the west by the 
violent attack of the Hudson, it began again to 
encroach on the bdunds destined to be the 
abodes of intelligence. Then the overwhelm- 
ing torrent which rushed through the breach 
formed for the Delaware, assailed the ambi- 
tious tyrant, and rescued from his desolating 
power delightful and fertile regions. 

The debris brought from the mountains and 
high lands by this noble river, were deposited 
along its sides, when the force of the current 
was lessened by its coming in contact with the 
ocean, But most deposits were made on the 



100 

east of the river, or bay, where the force was 
affected by the current of the Hudson and the 
ocean. The current in the ocean began to in- 
cline to the west after it was propelled to the 
south by the Hudson. The force of the Hud- 
son and that of the ocean then were united; 
and when that of the Delaware rushed in con- 
tact with them they were both again driven to 
the south. Between these currents most de- 
posits would be made, and directly between 
them the extensive alluvia in the south part of 
New Jersey were formed. 

The large estuaries or bays at the mouth of 
our rivers were not formed, as some have ima- 
gined, by the streams wearing away the solid 
earth, but by the force of the currents pre- 
venting debris from settling there. 

The current of the Delaware was so rapid 
that it maintained its course to the ocean, and 
swept the soil which was borne in its waters to 
southern regions. Where eddies were pro- 
duced by counter currents, deposits would be 
made. Between the Delaware and the tor- 
rent which then rushed down the channel of 
the Schuylkill, was formed the deep and ex- 
tensive alluvion on which Philadelphia is 
situated.* 

* Our limits will not admit of our mentioning the various remains 
which hs ve heefi found deep in the earth in the places we pass. 
Therefore, it must suffice to say that m all of the alluvia which we 



101 

The torrent of the Delaware, like that of 
the Hudson, overflowed a vast extent of coun- 
try, and the whole current, blended with that 
of the ocean, moved to the south. Many 
less streams from the mountain on the west, 
rushed to this general current, which inclined 
the collateral streams to the south, from where 
they would have flowed, had they been un- 
interrupted; and the general current from the 
north, drove the soil which the streams from 
the west brought from the mountains, to the 
south of the channels. Hence, we have a 
cause of the banks of alluvion, on all the riv- 
ers which flow from the west into the large 
bays or ocean, being deposited on the south 
of the channels. The streams, which now are 
small, at that time were extensive and power- 
ful torrents, as their channels indicate; and 
where now are dry and fertile vallies, then 
flowed majestic rivers. 

The soil and debris which the Brandywine 
brought down its channel, was driven to the 
south by the general current of the Delaware, 
and formed the delightful situation on which 
Wilmington stands. South of Wilmington, 
where Christiana creek now creeps along, 

name, timber of various kinds, animal remains, &c. have been found 
at various depths from ten to one hundred feet from the surface; and 
the various strata of earth are sueh that none can doubt but they have 
been dejmsited by currents* 

9* 



102 

flowed a large river, and the burdens which 
it bore were deposited to form those fertile 
flats south of the borough, and even the plea- 
sant heights where Newcastle is situated. — 
Many other streams flowed into the Delaware 
bay, on the south of every one of which are al- 
luvial deposits. 

The Susquehannah* 

As the God of Nature never formed a no- 
bler stream, or one which is capable of being 
converted to more important uses, than the 
Susquehannah, it is to be expected that such a 
river would weigh much either in favour or 
against our theory. Not only the river in its 
course, but the extensive alluvial deposits 
which cover the country through which it 
flows, declare that they owe their existence to 
a cause similar to the one described. 

This noble river rescued from the gloomy 
embrace of the ocean, millions of acres which 
now are adorned by rich harvests, pleasant 
villages, and magnificent cities. 

Before the ocean was met by the Susque- 
hannah, he had recovered from the shocks ex- 
perienced from the Hudson and the Delaware, 
and was again pressing his forces towards the 
mountains. Had this noble river been an ex- 



103 

perienced warrior, standing on the top of the 
Alleghany, surrounded by invincible legions, 
and marked the foe of freedom marching to 
defile, by his footsteps, the holy sanctuary of 
Jiberty, he could not have moved more effec- 
tually to repel the baleful intruder. As the 
accumulated force of the Susquehannah ap- 
proached, the current of the ocean was again 
driven from the shores, and turned to the 
south. 

Between the floods of the Delaware and the 
Susquehannah, was deposited the alluvion, 
which forms a great part of the state of Dela- 
ware, the eastern section of Maryland, and 
the counties of Virginia which lie on the 
east of the Chesapeake bay. The Susque- 
hannah, augmented by a thousand streams, and 
accelerated by precipitating from the moun- 
tains, moved with such impetuous force, as not 
only to turn the current of the ocean, but to 
preserve from alluvial deposits the space now 
occupied by the waters of the Chesapeake. 

The rivers which flowed from the mountains 
at the west, laden with soil, rushed to the east, 
and were prevented from depositing their bur- 
dens in the basin of the bay, by being instantly 
swallowed and borne away by the irresistible 
current of the Susquehannah. 



104 

To the streams which flowed into the bay 
from the west, are we indebted for the rich 
and extensive alluvial formations which extend 
through the centre of Maryland. When these 
rivers came in contact with the general cur- 
rent from the north, they were checked in 
their career. As their velocity was retarded, 
their burdens were deposited; and the whole 
plains being covered by waters having a mo- 
tion to the south, alluvion was formed on the 
south of the principal channels of the rivers. 

As innumerable streams laden with various 
kinds of soil, which they had torn from the hills 
and mountains from which they flowed, rushed 
from various directions into the common cur- 
rent, we must expect that many eddies and 
counter currents would be produced; to these 
we are indebted for the pleasing variety, the 
agreeable elevations and depressions of our 
alluvial formations.* 



* Here permit us to notice an error in regard to alluvial strata, 
which generally pervades society. Many have attempted to calcu- 
late the age of the world by these strata* They suppose that a num- 
ber of centuries would be required to form one stratum, that this 
stratum must remain as long before it would be covered with a suffi- 
cient growth of vegetation to form another, and thus they continue to 
calculate, proving from these ludicrous premises, that the world must 
have existed tor millions of centuries. All the strata of alluvia may 
have been iormed in as many hours as they calculate millions of 
years. 

If, as we have supposed, a section of a continent or island was cover- 
ed by water, that many streams from various directions, and flowing 



105 

More alluvial deposits were made along the 
course of the Susquehannah than on any river 
in the United States, which flows into the At- 
lantic; and, according to our theory, the cause 
is obvious. The Susquehannah forms a chan- 
nel nearer to the mountains, than any other 
river in the United States which flows from 
the north to the Atlantic. The currents and 
debris from the mountains, were obstructed in 
their ccurse by the current of the Susquehan- 
nah, and united their forces with that majestic 
stream, while the Delaware, Hudson, &c. were 
supplied only by streams which were of short 
extent. Hence, Connecticut river has less al- 
luvion than the Hudson, the Hudson less than 
the Delaware, and the Delaware less than the 
Susquehanna. 

That the torrrent which rushed down the 
channel of the Susquehannah was more power- 
through different soils should rush into that water, and there he ob- 
structed or turned by a superior current, strata of different kinds would 
be immediately formed. For instance, the alluvial formations around 
Baltimore, and more instructive ones are not on the globe. When 
this part of the country was covered by water, if one torrent had passed 
through a sandy soil when obstructed, a stratum of spnd would be 
formed. Another flowing into the same waters passed a clayey soil 
that would have a stratum of clay, and so were formed all the various 
strata which have induced so much speculation. In some countries 
hundreds of strata are formed, where there is but one in another, 
IVlany of our strata of alluvia are irregularly inclined, some form a 
curve, all depending on the situation of the bottom of the waters into 
which the streams flowed. 



106 

fill than any river to the east, appears from 
the larger bay which it preserved from allu- 
vial deposits, and the uniform course which 
the current maintained to the south. The 
streams which poured into this current could 
not alter its direction. 

Much alluvion was formed when the Poto- 
mac was interrupted by the current which 
rolled down the bay. Between the streams 
of the Potomac, and that which then rushed 
down the East Branch, the elegant site of the 
Capital was formed. 

At this time, the valley west of the Blue 
Ridge was filled with water, and the Shen- 
andoah acquired strength to force a passage 
through that lofty range. 

Most of the alluvial deposits on the west of 
the Chesapeake were made by the debris 
which the Potomac, York, and Rappahannock, 
brought from the mountains. 

When the James river, as if ambitious to 
share in the conquest of the Susquehannah, pre- 
cipitated to the general current, the attack 
was so violent, that the current of the Chesa- 
peake was turned to the east, notwithstanding 
the pressure of the ocean. Hence was caused 
the abrupt termination of the bay on the south, 
and hence the cause of the channel to this bay 



107 

running in a different direction from the bay 
itself. 

The alluvion formed by the James river was 
deposited south of that stream; and the force 
of the current in the Chesapeake, or Susque- 
hannah, and that of the ocean, was so much 
obstructed by this stream, that the alluvion 
was not conveyed to a great distance from its 
union with the bay; it was deposited before it 
arrived to the Dismal swamp. That extent 
of low land is but a faint picture of what most 
of the Atlantic states would have been, had 
not the recent flood made extensive deposits 
along our coast. The soil w r hich was brought 
by the Susquehannah and its branches from the 
mountains being deposited, and James river 
retarding the current which flowed along the 
coast, the alluvion which that river bore in its 
surges, was not swept so far to the south as 
that of other streams; and the Dismal swamp 
between North Carolina and Virginia, remains 
a gloomy witness in support of our theory. 

The Roanoke, with its floods, preserved 
from alluvion Albermarle sound. 

The Tar and Neuse defended the space now 
covered by the waters of Pamlico sound. 

After the Susquehannah and James river 
had exerted their force in repelling the cur- 
rent of the ocean from our shores, none of the 



108 

rivers to the south had force to resist its vio- 
lence. 

The current which had been pressed among 
the mountains had in a great degree lost its 
force before it arrived among the mountains in 
the south of Virginia, and the Carolinas, so that 
when it burst passages to the ocean, it did not 
flow with such impetuosity as in the more 
northern states. 

From Pamlico sound, where the Tar and 
Neuse exerted their strength, the current of 
the ocean inclined to the west. Along the 
coast of the Carolinas and Georgia, from the 
situation of the ranges of the mountains, the 
rivers had but small effect on the surges of the 
ocean. 

The Apalachian and Cumberland ranges of 
mountains, running nearly in the same direc- 
tion as the currents flowed, were not so much 
exposed to their fury as the same ridges fur- 
ther to the north, where they incline to the 
east, and present their sides to the force of 
the waves. 

These mountains were an insuperable bar- 
rier on the east, to the immense current which 
rolled down the vale of the Mississippi. When 
this current passed the southern bounds of the 
Alleghany mountains, it met the triumphant 
surges of the Atlantic. The current which 



109 

pushed down the vale of the Mississippi, 
turned the force of the ocean again to the south 
and south-east. On the coast of Georgia the 
waves of the ocean were first opposed by the 
flood which pressed through the interior of 
North America; and there the coast, which is 
alluvial, is again turned to the south. The al- 
luvion of East Florida was formed at that time; 
That peninsula lies directly between the two 
currents, or where they came in contact with 
each other, and where the most soil would be 
deposited. 

The West India islands, being situated be- 
tween these currents, received much of their 
luxuriant soil at the time of this flood. 

But the states bordering on the Gulf of Mex- 
ico, were most affected by it, and even they 
owe most of their formation to the current 
which rushed down the vale of the Missis- 
sippi. The waters of the gulf w 7 ere raised to 
a great height by the pressure of the flood in 
the Atlantic. When they were attacked by 
the force, which rushed down from the north 
on the west of the mountains, the vast alluvinl 
deposits w T hich form the greater part of those 
states were made. 

In the alluvial formations north of the Gulf 
of Mexico, various remains are found, which 
clearly prove that that branch of the ocean 
10 



110 

once extended far to the north of its present 
bounds. 

In Opelousas, west of the Mississippi, a hu- 
man scull and many other bones, were found at 
the depth of thirty feet below the surface of 
the earth. The bones of an elephant were 
found in the same place. 

These bones were deposited there by the 
returning waves of the deluge, and the strata 
of alluvion were spread over them by later in- 
undations, more particularly by that which we 
have last described. 

In Alabama, fifteen or twenty feet below the 
surface, is a stratum where wood is found of 
various kinds, partially decayed. "Beneath 
this and a concomitant body of clay and soft 
lime-stone, is a substance resembling the grass 
on the margin of the ocean, and accompanied 
by numerous marine shells." 

Where the grass and marine shells are de- 
posited, was the shore of the ocean before the 
last flood. The wood felled by the current 
from the north, was transported to the south, 
till it met the waves of the ocean, and then was 
overwhelmed and covered by the soil which 
rushed m the torrent down the Mississippi, 

"Charcoal and ashes were found fifty feet 
below the surface, near Elkton, at the head of 
the Chesapeake. There was also a parcel of 



Ill 

burned brands, or species of wood, charred at 
one end, and found at the same depth. These 
were birch and beech, and though soft, suffi- 
ciently to be ascertained and distinguished. — 
On many of the pieces there were marks of 
edged tools, and of their being split by human 
hands." These deposits were brought to 
their present situation by the waves of the 
general deluge, and were covered by the de- 
bris which the surges brought from the moun- 
tains, as they rolled back from their first im- 
pulse; and they were still secluded deeper 
from light, by the alluvion which the Susque- 
hannah brought upon them when it forced a 
passage through the mountains. 

These deposits may have been the effects of 
the inhabitants who peopled this part of the 
continent previous to the last inundation, which 
must have been totally destructive to all who 
had their residence in vallies or on the plains. 

The petrified bones of a whale were found 
near the mouth of the Patuxent. The carcase 
of this animal must have been brought by the 
returning waters of the general deluge. 

It appears, from various and most respectable 
sources, that in Virginia, and other of the 
southern states, at the distance of an hundred 
miles from the ocean, far beneath the surface 
of the earth, are many marine deposits. The 



112 

shells of fishes, the bones of sharks, whales 
and other monsters of the deep, are frequently 
brought to light in digging ditches and sinking 
well in that part of the country. These were 
conveyed there by the waves, when they re- 
turned from completing the work of destruc- 
tion in the old world. 

When streams descended from the moun- 
tains, the debris was thrown over these vic- 
tims of the deluge. When the inundation 
rushed from the north, these remains were bu- 
ried still deeper from the light of heaven. 

In the stratum of coal in Rhode island is 
seen a mass of vegetable productions, trans- 
ported from the old world by the current, 
which in its return flowed over the New Eng- 
land states, and when it was met by the sur- 
ges of the ocean, the force of the current aba- 
ted, and there the mass of vegetation found a 
residence. The last flood was opposed in the 
same place in a similar manner, and left a stra- 
tum of alluvion above this consolidated mass of 
vegetation.^ 

* It is well known that the coal mines opened in our country, do 
not afford coal so pure, or free of earth, as those in the eastern conti- 
nent. The cause, from our theory, is obvious. The matter compo- 
sing the coal brought from the eastern hemisphere, was more exposed 
to the fury of the waves than that which was deposited near the plains 
on which it grew. That which was transported here in waves min- 
gled wan sand and mould, when deposited was agitated by the cur- 
rents, and became perforated with earthy particles. 



113 

The mines of coal which have been disco- 
vered near Pittsburgh, and various places 
along the Alleghany range, are but lightly co- 
vered with soil, though some parts of the 
strata dip deep in the mountains. The vege- 
tables, or vegetable mass which formed these 
strata of coal, was brought, as has been ob- 
served, by the returning current of the deluge; 
and many of these deposits were fixed so high 
on the mountains, as not to be affected by the 
subsequent flood.* Parts of the mountains on 
whose sides these deposits were made, have., 
by the decay or revolutions of ages, been un- 
dermined, and they have fallen on the strata of 
vegetables which adhered to them. 

The delightful situation of our Capitol, at 
Washington, is as instructive to an inquiring 

* Coal, possessing properties so different from what is discovered 
in the growth of vegetation at the present era, will doubtless induce 
some to believe that it is not formed of vegetables. But we would ob- 
serve, and shall attempt to prove, that there have been great and es- - 
sential changes in the climate on the surface of our sphere. Thecon- 
stitution and form of the various species of the brute creation have 
changed; man has changed in many respects, and vegetation is more 
immediately affected by the climate than any of the animal creation. 
Vegetation, before the deluge and the change of seasons, possessed 
various properties which it does not now possess. Plants and trees 
of the torrid zone, are very different from those of the temperate 
and frigid, and when there was no variation in the seasons, it must be 
expected that vegetation would be very different from what it is when 
subject to alternate changes from cold to heat. If vegetation, before 
the deluge, possessed more of the pitchy substance than it now does, 
as it is rational to suppose it did, the various properties of the coal are 
easily accounted for. 

10* 



114 

mind, as we trust it will ever be eminent for 
the wisdom and piety by which our national 
concerns are conducted. 

"Capitol Hill is more than eighty feet above 
tide-water. Digging has shown that all the 
strata are horizontal; and the pebbles and 
stones mingled with the sands, are rounded, as 
if rolled by water. 

"Under this mass of alluvial materials, or- 
ganic remains exist. They lie in a stratum of 
muddy clay. Trunks and branches of trees 
are found in abundance, at the depth of fifty- 
four feet under the surface of Capitol Hill; 
frequently the wood is black, and so as to re- 
semble coal, and is mingled with pyrites." 

The base on which the above mentioned re- 
mains were found, was the surface of the 
ground before the last inundation. The fifty- 
four feet of solid earth above them, was 
brought by the accumulated current of the Po- 
tomac, when it forced a passage through the 
mountains, and was opposed by the waters of 
the Chesapeake, and those which rushed down 
the East Branch at the same time, and which 
have been described. 

Alluvial deposits beneath Philadelphia, are 
similar to those at Washington, and were 
formed by the same cause. New York 
stands on similar deposits, and all sites near 



115 

the junction of large rivers, have but little va- 
riation in the strata on which they rest. 

In the vale of the Mississippi, or west of the 
Alleghany mountains, is a rich and extensive 
field for geological inquiry. 

Far beneath the surface, below many strata 
of alluvia, have been discovered the bones of 
the human race, promiscuously scattered 
where once was the surface of the earth. Re- 
mains of various lower species of the animal 
creation, are mingled with the lords of this 
lower world. Nearer the surface, are likewise 
found remains of man, of various species of 
the brute creation, timber in an entire state, 
parts of chimnies, and various utensils, which 
were designed for religious or domestic use. 

The lower stratum of bones, or relics, were 
brought to their present places of rest by the 
waters of the deluge as we have noticed. The 
upper stratum was formed by the recent flood, 
which w 7 e have attempted to explain. That 
the timber or trees which are buried in allu- 
vion, were buried by the cause which over- 
threw them, appears evident from these facts. 
They have bark, leaves, and even fruit upon 
them. Had they been prostrated by a tem- 
pest, and lain on the surface of the earth till 
covered by decayed vegetables, or the increase 
of soil, the fruit, leaves, bark, and even the 



116 

wood itself would have been destroyed, or 
worn marks of decay. The subterranean for- 
ests of Europe, were swept down and buried 
by the torrents of the general deluge; the 
trees in America which are found entire, were 
buried by a similar, though a subsequent 
cause. 

That the remains of chimnies, and various 
implements which have been brought to light 
by the washing of rivers, and by digging, were 
instantly covered, appears from many facts. 
Had they not been instantly covered, they 
W T ould have worn more marks of decay than are 
now stamped upon them. By the washing of 
the soil, by common tempests, many centuries 
would have been required to cover some re- 
mains, now deeply buried in our country, and 
even the remains themselves would have moul- 
dered away, before a sufficiency of soil could 
have been formed to cover them. 

Many rivers once flowed in our country, 
which do not now appear, nor are their cour- 
ses to be traced but by marks here and there 
impressed on the rocks, which must have 
been made by a long continuance of regular 
currents. 

We have stated that before the last inunda- 
tion, many rivers flowed from the north-west 
of the Alleghany, into an ocean which covered 



117 

the north-east part of North America. The 
traces of these rivers are discovered in many 
places on the rocks near the lakes. 

When rents were made through the moun- 
tains, and by alluvial deposits on the south of 
the lakes the surface was raised, the channels 
of the former rivers being filled, the courses of 
the rivers were directed to the southward. 

The channels of the Ohio, and its numerous 
auxiliaries, were formed after the late inunda- 
tion, and they marked their courses where the 
least obstructions were presented. It appears 
that their channels have not long existed, by 
the numerous remains that are seen in the 
sides of the channels their waters have formed. 
The majestic Mississippi commenced his 
course after the rich alluvial formations were 
made between the Alleghany and Stony moun- 
tains. This appears in the whole course of 
the channel of that noble river, and from the 
situation of the alluvial deposits, which it is 
evident that that stream has recently made. 
No river in either hemisphere, has its alluvia 
deposited like the Mississippi.* 

After the principal alluvial formations were 
made as we have described, and the grounds 
began to be covered with vegetation, when 

* The reader is referred to Dr. H. H. Uayden's ingenious and able 
publication on that subject. 



118 

evaporation and rains increased, new rivers 
began to flow. Then streams entered vallies, 
and formed lakes. Other rivers wore chan- 
nels to the same reservoirs; they rose, till 
overflowing or breaking their bounds in the 
lowest or most tenable places, they rushed to 
the ocean. These causes have produced great 
changes in the appearance of the surface of 
our country. 

The numerous small lakes which are so 
delightful in the north-west part of the state 
of New York, are formed in this manner. 
These lakes were once more extensive than 
they now are. As the streams which form the 
out-lets to these lakes wore their channels 
deeper, the waters of the lakes would decline; 
which has evidently been the case with most 
of the small lakes in our country. 

Lake Champlain once covered lands several 
hundred feet above the present surface of its 
waters. It continued to rise, till overflowing 
its bounds to the north, it found a passage to 
the river St. Lawrence; and as the channel of 
the Sorel was deepened, the lake lowered to 
its present bounds. 

Our limits will not permit us to describe 
more places which bear evident marks of the 
revolution we have mentioned. In almost 
every part of our country, abundance of such 



119 

marks at»e to be found. The sides of our 
mountains, the beds of our lakes, the channels 
of our rivers, the plains and vallies, rocks and 
precipices, and even the stones and pebbles in 
language which cannot be doubted, nor mis- 
construed, all testify of this catastrophe. 

All the Indians in North America have a 
tradition of a flood which they say "overflow- 
ed the lands and drowned the whole world, 
except the highest mountains. To these re- 
treats some Indians fled and were saved from 
the raging floods." Might not this with more 
propriety be referred to the flood just described 
than to the one in which all flesh suffered, and 
from which none but Noah and his family es- 
caped? 

The query may arise, "when did this catas- 
trophe happen?" We have no data from 
w T hich we can decide in what year or century 
this great revolution took place. But would 
it be inconsistent to suppose, that when the 
sun was darkened, when the rocks were cleft, 
when the veil of the temple was rent in twain, 
when the astonished heathen philosopher ex- 
claimed, "The world is coming to an end, or 
the God of Nature suffers." When the Son 
of Righteousness was crucified, would it be in- 
consistent to suppose, that at that eventful 



ISO 

crisis, when fear and consternation pervaded 
the world, that this great event occurred? 

PROOF XVII. 

Of the Prairies of North America* 

Most of the extensive flats or meadows in 
our country, west of the Alleghany mountains, 
were formed by the flood from the north. — 
T<iese natural meadows are, in general, desti- 
tute of every species of vegetation except 
grass. In some of them are elevations of land, 
which are covered by a heavy growth of tim- 
ber. 

Some of the prairies, or meadows, may 
have been divested of timber by fires, which 
have been frequently put to them; but those 
which have rises of timber-lands in them, 
could not have been formed by fire; for the 
higher lands would have been as much ex- 
posed to the fury of that element as the lovver 
surface, and all the timber on the elevations 
would have been destroyed. 

Most of the prairies are of alluvial forma- 
tions. This appears from the many animal 
and vegetable remains which have been found 
far below their surface. Below a thick stra- 
tum of vegetable mould, sand, gravel, and 
rounded pebbles are found, which proves that 



121 

lakes, or arms of a sea or ocean, once rested 
there. 

The basins of these lakes were formed when 
the country was overflowed from the north.— 
In many places, by the projections of the 
mountains, or by counter currents, eddies to 
a great extent were formed. By the constant 
whirls of the waters, the surface of the 
ground became excavated; so that when the 
floods subsided, lakes remained in these ba- 
sins. The elevations now covered by trees, 
were islands in these lakes. As the lands be- 
came covered with vegetation, and streams 
began to flow, some of which were channels to 
the small lakes, the waters rose, and overflow- 
ing their bounds, formed channels, which have 
drained off the waters from the basins, which 
now are enriched by a thick vegetable mould, 
which was deposited there by the streams 
which previously flowed into them. They re- 
mained lakes so long, that all the seeds of ve- 
getation, which had been transported to them 
had decayed. The seeds of various grasses 
first took root in them, and grew so luxuriant, 
that the seeds which subsequently were borne 
there received no growth. 

The largest prairies in North America, are 
west of the Mississippi. There mure exten- 
sive eddies would have been produced. The 
11 



123 

Stoiiy mountains were the western barrier to the 
flood. Where ridges of that range projected 
to the east, on the south would be an eddy; 
and in such situations the prairies are found, 
and extend in proportion to the projection of 
the mountain. 

In this manner the lower prairies were form- 
ed. They became covered with grass. This 
grass, when dry and fired, is so powerful a 
combustion, that nothing can resist the confla- 
gration. These flames, in many of the prai- 
ries, have, by destroying the timber on higher 
lands, produced a secondary kind, more eleva- 
ted, not so level, nor of so rich a mould, and 
the alluvial strata of which they are formed, 
are variously inclined, and differing much from 
the strata of the prairies formed in the basins 
of lakes. 

The extensive open plains, called Pampas^ 
in South America, are flats, from which the 
waters retired at the recession of the ocean, or 
where the bottom of the deep was raised un- 
broken. These plains are so impregnated with 
saline particles, that no vegetables, except a 
kind of marine grass, grows upon them. 

These Pampas are so level, that there are 
no streams to bear away the salt particles, and 
their situations are so far from the mountains, 
that no soil nor debris is transported to them 



123 

by storms and tempests; and not having been 
inundated since the waters retired, no alluvion 
has covered them. They have remained cen- 
tury after century, enriched by the decay of 
their own productions. 

The late flood from the north, being ob- 
structed by the ocean which flowed into, and 
filled the Gulf of Mexico, did not affect the 
south part of America in any great degree. 
The waters were propelled to the northern 
provinces of South America, and alluvial de- 
posits were made there; but the more southern 
parts experienced no other effects, or none 
greater than a small subsidence of the waters, 
when they retired to the caverns beneath the 
newly formed section of our continent. 

PROOF XVIIL 

Of the saltness of the Ocean, and of many 
Lakes. 

The saltness of the ocean, and the situation 
of the salt lakes, will prove the correctness of 
our theory. 

When our world was moulded to a sphere, 
the saline particles were equally diffused 
through the whole mass of matter composing 
our world. The ocean was then less salt than it 
now is. When the lands were elevated, and 



124 

the streams began to flow, the particles of salt 
were washed from the soil, and from vegeta. 
tion, and conveyed to the ocean, or to some 
other reservoir. 

The aqueous particles were raised by eva- 
poration, and the salt remained where it had 
been deposited. By this process of nature, 
the ocean has constantly been growing Salter. 

The truth of this will appear, when we ex- 
amine the situation of the lakes, whose waters 
are impregnated with salt. 

We have no account of any lake on either 
continent, or on any island, into which rivers 
flow, and from which there is no channel to 
convey the waters to other reservoirs, but what 
is salt; and we know not a collection of water, 
which has streams flowing from it, that is so 
impregnated with salt as to render it percepti- 
ble to the taste, or visible in a chymical opera- 
tion. We except in this, the lakes and ponds, 
which have the saline particles mingled with 
their waters by springs which have filtrated 
through mines of salt. 

On both hemispheres are lakes which have 
no outlets, situated in the same latitude as 
those which have streams flowing from them; 
and though in the same soil, yet the former are 
uniformly salt, and the latter fresh. 



125 

When a quantity of water flows into a valley 
surrounded by hills, and if it does not evapo- 
rate as fast as it flows into the depression, it 
must in time overflow its bounds and rush to 
the ocean. If at certain seasons more evapo- 
rates than flows into the valley at the same sea- 
son, the valley becomes dry, and is covered 
with water when more waters flow in the ri- 
vers than the heat of the sun raises in vapour. 
Such are the morasses which are wet in the 
spring and autumn, and are dry in the sunir 
mer; and, it is only in these depressions in 
which waters conveyed by streams are equal to 
the evaporation that lakes and seas without out- 
lets exist. This is the situation of the Caspian^ 
and Aral seas, of lake Moravi, lake Nor, and 
several others in the old world, and of lake 
Titticaca, Salt lake, one of the lakes in the 
city of Mexico, and several more in the south- 
ern part of our continent. These lakes and 
seas having no streams issuing from them, re- 
tain the salt which is brought to them by rivers 
and torrents. 

But, in North America, or in that part of 
it which was washed by the last mentioned in- 
undation, not a solitary lake of the above de- 
scription exists, while in South America, and 
on the eastern continent they are numerous. 
The basins of lakes and seas in the old world, 
11* 



126 

were formed by the flood as has been observ- 
ed, and where there is one whose situation and 
surface are such, that an equilibrium is form- 
ed between the received waters, and emitted 
vapour, there salt water is found; but, in that 
part of North America which experienced a se- 
cond inundation, the floods filled the beds of 
lakes, and burst a passage for their future col- 
lection of water to roll to the ocean. In South 
America no second flood has prevailed, to form 
channels for the lakes to discharge their wa- 
ters, and there they remain accumulating salt, 
in the same manner as those in the old world.** 

PROOF XIX. 

Change of Climate, 8{c. 

As testimony in favour of our system, we 
introduce the change in the temperature of cli- 
mate in the old world, since records have been 
kept. 

That the climate on the eastern continent, 
or in Turkey, Arabia, Italy, France, England, 
and Germany, is warmer now than it was se- 

* Mexico was but little affected by the late flood, from the same 
causes as South America, and in Mexico are salt lakes. The two lakes 
in the city of Mexico, prove as far as the subject will admit, that 
salt lakes are formed in the manner we ha\e stated. The upper lake 
in Mexico is fresh, a stream flows from that to another, which has 
no outlet, the former is fresh, the latter is salt 



127 

veral centuries ago, appears evident from many 
authentic accounts. 

The author of the book of Job, who proba- 
bly was Moses, wrote upwards of thirty- three 
centuries ago. Th£ country in which he wrote, 
was Midia, at the east end of the Mediterra- 
nean sea, in north latitude thirty degrees. In 
describing the cold, the author observes, "Hast 
thou entered into the treasures of the snow? 
or hast thou seen the treasures of hail? Out of 
whose womb came the ice, and the hoarfrost of 
heaven who has engendered it? The waters 
are hid as with a stone, and the face of the 
deep is frozen P 

The seasons then in that country must have 
been much more severe than they now are; for 
in that place for several centuries, there has 
been no ice, frost, nor snow. 

The degrees of heat in Farenheit's thermo- 
meter, in which large bodies of water are froz- 
en, is about twenty-five degrees, and this is to 
continue many days. Therefore, in the land 
of Midia in the days of Moses, the extreme 
of cold must have been about twenty-five de- 
grees. 

David, about four centuries after Moses, 
gives us a description of what he considers as a 
cold winter: "He giveth snow like wool. He 
scatter eth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casU 



128 

eth forth ice like morsels. Who can stand 
before his cold?" 

This the poet describes as the extreme of 
cold in this warm climate. At thirty-one de. 
grees of Farenheit's thermometer such effects 
are produced. Hence, in four centuries, there 
was a difference of six degrees in the tempera- 
ture of the climate in that country, in the ex- 
treme of winter. Now, in Palestine, or Mi- 
dia, the climate is so warm that neither snow 
nor ice is known. 

From meteorological observations made in 
countries of about the same temperature as Pa- 
lestine, as in Cairo in Egypt, the mean tem- 
perature of the severest week is forty-nine de- 
grees, which mftkes a variation in the tempe- 
rature from the days of Moses to the present 
time, twenty-four degrees. 

The climate in Italy is found to be very dif- 
ferent now, from what it was eighteen centu- 
ries ago. Virgil informs us, that the rivers 
were frozen over, as an event which was com- 
monly to be expected. The place where Vir- 
gil wrote, was in forty-one degrees north lati- 
tude. Pliny, Juvenal, and Aelian, speak of 
snow and ice as being common. Now, no 
ice is seen in the rivers of Italy, and where 
snows usually fell, no frost is known. 



129 

A similar change has taken place in the 
north part of Turkey. At Constantinople, and 
round the Black sea, the change in the tem- 
perature of the climate has been as great as in 
Italy. Ovid informs us, that he saw the Black 
sea frozen over, that he walked upon it, and 
that oxen and carriages passed over it. Tourne- 
fit informs us, that in the days of Constantine, 
the straits of Bizantium were frozen over, and 
that in 401 the Black sea was covered for 
twenty days together. In lf>07, the Turks 
were astonished to see some ice at Constanti- 
nople. At the present time, nothing of the 
kind is known in that part of the world. 

The same alteration has been observed in 
the Alps, in Switzerland, France, and Ger- 
many The passage of the Alps by Hannibal, 
which filled the astonished world with admira- 
tion, is now in the midst of winter a journey 
attended with but few inconveniencies on ac- 
count of the severity of the weather. The 
troops of Julius Csesar nearly perished by the 
cold in Gaul, where now no frost nor snow is 
seen. 

Diodorus Siculus says, "That the Rhine, 
and Rhone were frozen," and we have many 
other accounts which leave no doubt but the 
climate in the south and south-east parts of 
Europe, south-west part of Asia, and north 



130 

part of Africa, is seventeen or eighteen de- 
grees warmer now than eighteen centuries 
ago* 

In Africa are many channels of rivers en- 
tirely dry, in which majestic streams formerly 
rolled to the ocean. In Asia, rivers are re- 
ported to have sunk into channels far less than 
t' s ey formerly filled. And, in both Africa and 
Asia, where once w r ere extensive luxuriant 
fields, are now parched, barren deserts, over 
which roll oceans of sand. 

That the deserts have extended their bounds 
on the eastern continent, is evident. Palmyra 
was situated in a fertile valley, though sur- 
rounded by barren sands. Carthage had 
her verdant meadows, pleasant groves, and 
fertile fields; and, where are they? They are 
buried beneath heaps of burning sands. Her 
fountains, her aqueducts and harbours, have 
been filled and buried by the tempests of 
sand which rolled from the desert. Mo- 
dern discoveries have opened to light the 
remains of magnificent cities to the west of 
Egypt, over which for centuries the camel and 
dromedary have travelled, guided by the com- 
pass, as nothing of an earthly nature, but an 

* For the above ideas and many more which clearly prove that a 
change in the temperature of climate has taken place on the eastern 
continent, the reader is referred to Dr. S. Williams's notes on that 
phenomenon. 



181 

ocean of sand meets the longing eye. There 
must be a cause for these wonderful changes. 
Why have these sections of the world become 
warmer? It will be replied, "because the de- 
serts have become larger/' and why have the 
deserts become larger, burst their ancient 
bounds, and involved in their desolate bosoms, 
magnificent cities, and renowned monuments of 
antiquity? Will it not be answered, that God 
has brought these judgments upon those na- 
tions for their iniquity? It is not denied. But 
our object is to develope the means which the 
great Arbiter of universal nature employed to 
punish rebellious man. 

It is evident, that the extension of the de- 
serts would increase the heat of the climates of 
nations bordering on them. To account for 
the deserts extending their bounds, will be un- 
folding the cause of the climate of nations be- 
coining warmer. 

To account for this phenomenon, on ration- 
al and philosophical principles, the mind must 
be engaged a few minutes in reflecting on the 
situation of the mountains, seas, and deserts, 
on the eastern continent, and likewise referred 
to some of the properties and motions of the 
atmosphere. 



132 

Of the situation of the Mountains, Seas, and 
Deserts, on the eastern hemisphere. 

The principal mountains of Africa lie in the 
following direction. The mountains of the 
moon, run nearly from east to west through 
the centre of Africa. 

The snowy mountains branch from the east 
end of the mountains of the moon, and run to 
the south-west near the south-east coast of 
Africa to the Cape of Good Hope. The Ly- 
bian mountains branch from the same end of 
the mountains of the moon, and run inclining 
to the west of north between the Red sea and 
the river Nile. The Tibessi mountains run, 
from east to west between the Nile and the de- 
sert of Sahara. Mount Atlas extends from 
north of east to south of west, to the north of 
the desert through the Barbary states. 

The mountains of Asia which we shall no- 
tice, are the low ranges near the centre of Ara- 
bia; the Gaut mountains on the west coast of 
the peninsula of Hindostan, running from south 
to north. The ranges of Tartary running 
from east to west, Caucasus and Taurus, be- 
tween the Caspian and Black seas. 

In Europe, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and Car- 
pathian will demand our attention. Many 



1$S 

others in those three quarters of the globe, 
would require attention to give a more minute 
description of their effects on the winds, than 
our present limits afford. 

In Persia are few mountains or rivers, but 
many deserts. In the south part of Arabia the 
soil is fertile; north of the mountains, it is parch- 
ed and desert. From but little west of Egypt 
to the Atlantic, between the mountains of the 
moon, and Atlas, Africa is a desert. 

Of the Properties and Motions of the Atmos- 
phere. 

The atmosphere is a fluid resembling water, 
except in density; being much lighter, it 
floats above it, and presses like water in every 
direction on the surface of bodies. This fluid in 
depth, is upwards of forty miles, or extends to 
that height from the surface of the earth. The 
atmosphere becomes lighter as we ascend; from 
pressure being lighter in all other parts than 
on the surface of the earth. A body lighter 
than a fluid, will rise and float on the surface. 
A body in a fluid of different density in vari- 
ous sections, will rise to the section which is 
of the same density as itself, and there will be 
supported. This is the state of the clouds; the 
atmosphere below them being denser than 
they, and above lighter, the vapours forming the 
12 



134 

Clouds are supported and are borne as the cur- 
rents in the fluids incline. Water by heat is 
decomposed, that the aqueous particles become 
of less density than the atmosphere, and they 
rise to regions where an equilibrium is formed. 
There, when two particles are united, the one 
that is formed is of greater weight than the at- 
mosphere and descends, uniting with others 
which are ascending, reaches the earth in a 
drop of rain, in extent in proportion to the dis- 
tance it has fallen, and to the number of par- 
ticles which have united to it. 

Every particle of matter composing a fluid, 
is a sphere, a form, which contains the most 
matter with the least surface. A sphere di- 
vided into two, presents more surface than 
when in one. Hence, as heat separates parti- 
cles of matter, the quantity of matter decreas- 
ing faster than the surface, and the atmosphere 
pressing on every part of the surface, they rise 
and form clouds. The particles composing the 
atmosphere are alike affected by heat, ascend- 
ing when warmed, and descending when cold. 

The winds or currents in the atmosphere, 
are similar to those in the water. They flow to 
warmer regions when unobstructed, as water 
descends an inclined plain. There are often 
counter-currents in the atmosphere, as ap- 
pears by clouds moving in opposite directions. 

The currents in the atmosphere are obstruct- 



135 

ed by continents, islands, and mountains, and 
made to flow in various directions from their 
natural course; as the current of a river is 
turned by a projecting rock, or by winding 
banks. This appears evident from the courses 
of the periodical winds in many parts of the 
world. 

On the equator in the ocean, the uniform cur- 
rent of air is from east to west, following the 
course of the sun. When the sun is north of 
the equator, the air near the northern tropic 
flows to the south-west, and near the southern 
tropic to the north-west. This is invariably 
the case where the currents are not obstructed 
by land. But where continents, &c. oppose, 
the air is turned from a direct line in propor- 
tion to the direction of the coast or mountains 
which oppose. The current is turned as light 
is reflected, the angle of incidence being equal 
to the angle of reflection. 

Hence w T e find, that in the sea of Arabia, 
when the sun is south of the equator, the winds 
blow to the south-west, are turned more to 
the south by the coast of Africa, and passing 
round the Cape of Good Hope, occasion those 
heavy storms so often destructive to mariners. 
But, when the sun is north of the equator, the 
current instead of moving to the north-west in 
its natural course, is turned to the north-east- 



136 

In like manner the winds prevail in the sea of 
Bengal, in the Mosambique channel, and in 
various other bays, gulfs, and seas. 

While the lower sections of the atmosphere 
are obstructed and turned, aside by coasts and 
mountains, the higher sections pass over the 
barriers uninterrupted. Hence, we often see 
the clouds moving along, parallel to the moun- 
tains, while the lighter ones pass in a differ- 
ent direction, far above their summits. 

The lower section of the atmosphere which 
passes along the torrid zone to the west over 
the Indian ocean, is obstructed by Africa; 
Cape Gardafui is the point which divides the 
current. Part flows to the north, and part to 
the south-west. That which is turned to the 
north, has the Lybian mountains for a barrier 
on the west, and the Gaut mountains on the 
east. This current passes over Persia and 
Arabia, and Turkey in Asia. The lower sec- 
tion of that which passes over Arabia, is ob- 
structed by the mountains extending across 
Arabia, from near the Red sea to the Persian 
gulf. Here the vapours contained in the ob- 
structed section pressed by succeeding ones, 
and urged against each other, condense and 
fall in showers. Hence, the south part of Ara- 
bia is plentifully supplied with rain, which 
gives such fertility to the soil, and luxuriant 



137 

growth to vegetation, that the country, is 
rightly denominated Felix. The part of the 
current which passes above the mountains, 
and flows over Persia unopposed, and warm 
from the torid zone, receives the evaporation 
of Persia, and of the north part of Arabia, and 
bears it to the north. Hence, the evaporation 
being borne away, vegetation languishes, the 
soil becomes parched, and the deserts are 
formed. Hence, the north part of Arabia has 
received on account of its barrenness, the just 
appellation of Veserta. This current moves 
to the north and north-west, till it reaches the 
mountains of Tartary, Taurus, and Caucasus; 
here on account of the height of the mountains, 
it is more fully obstructed, and discharges most 
of its stores; which supply the rivers Eu- 
phrates, Tigris, Gihon, Sihon, &c. 

Hence, we have a cause for the scarcity of 
rivers in Persia and Arabia, and for there 
being no auxiliary streams to the Tigris and 
Euphrates. 

The current is turned by the last mentioned 
mountains to the west; part of the current 
which flows over Arabia, when it reaches the 
north extremity of its western barrier, the Li* 
bian mountains, rushes to the west over the 
northern part of Africa, sweeping off the eva- 
poration of those ill-fated lands. 
12* 



138 

Hence, we have a cause for there being rain 
so seMom in E^ypt, and the same cause which 
produced deserts in Arabia and Persia, occa- 
sioned those in Africa, and continues the ope- 
ration, and to the present time extends the 
bounds of the deserts. 

Hence we have a cause for the rivers di- 
minishing and becoming dry in Africa Be- 
fore vegetation ceased to grow, when more 
rains descended, rivers were supplied in abun- 
dance, but as the vapours were borne away, 
the rivers diminished, till now the wearv tra- 
veller searches in vain their extensive chan- 
nels to quench his raging thirst. 

Part of the current passes over the Medi- 
terranean Sea, Turkey in Europe, Italy, 
France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Nether- 
lands, Denmark, England, &c. to the Atlan- 
tic ocean; some parts of it are obstructed by 
the Carpathian mountains, the Alps, and Py- 
renees, and the condensation of the vapours 
against their sides and summits, supplies the 
rivers which rise and flow from their bases. 

As this current passes over countries and re- 
ceives the tribute of every land, it becomes 
so laden with moisture, that it begins to dis- 
charge its burthen, before it reaches the At- 
lantic ocean. The evaporation of Asia is 
poured out upon France, Spain, Germany, 



139 

&c. The current becomes cooler, both from 
its moving from the torrid zone, and from 
the vapours with which it is loaded, that it 
does not receive so much evaporation from the 
western as from the eastern kingdoms. 

Hence we have a cause for its being warmer 
in Persia, and the north part of Arabia, than 
in the Turkeys, warmer in Turkey than in 
Italy, warmer in Italy than in France, &c. 
Hence w T e have a cause of there being more 
rains in Europe, than in the south-west part 
of Asia; and more in the south-west parts of 
Europe, than in the south-east. There are 
more rivers in Turkey in Europe than in Tur- 
key in Asia, more in France than in Turkey 
in Europe, and more in Spain than in France. 
The above described currents coming from the 
torrid zone, and flowing over the most of Eu- 
rope, render the climate more temperate and 
mild there, than on our continent, in the same 
latitude. The current when it arrives at 
England, uniting with the cooler air over the 
ocean, forms the fogs which are so prevalent 
in that kingdom, in Holland, &c. 

That current which passes over Africa, 
meeting with no mountains running from south 
to north to obstruct its course, bears off more 
vapours from that quarter of the world, than is 
Garried from Europe. Atlas gathers light 



140 

stores, which supply a few small rivers in 
Morocco, and renders that part of the conti- 
nent cooler than to the east, in the same lati- 
tude. South of Atlas, there is no range of moun- 
tains till we arrive at the mountains of the 
moon, that the current meets with no obstruc- 
tion in passing the desert. When the sun is 
nearly vertical to the mountains of the moon, 
or south of them, the south part of the current 
which inclines to the south-west strikes oblique- 
ly against the sides, and discharges its stores 
to supply the Niger, Senegal, and Gambia, the 
rises of which rivers are periodical. When 
the current which passes Africa arrives at 
the Atlantic, and mingles with the cooler va- 
pours, fogs are formed as on the west of Eu- 
rope; and those heavy storms are produced 
when they spend their fury on the waves 
of the Atlantic. Here the winds vary, but 
without refreshing thirsty and parched Af- 
rica. When the sun has set, the atmosphere 
over the desert is rarer than over the ocean, 
the cold air of the ocean rushes to supply the 
place of the rarer, by the heat of the burning 
sands it rarifies and ascends, and is urged by 
the regular currents in the high regions again 
to the west. These currents often prove de- 
structive to vessels near the west coast of Af- 
rica; when enveloped in the thick fog, they are 



141 

dashed on the inhospitable shores. These cur- 
rents, which we have attempted to describe, 
we conceive are the cause of the deserts ex- 
tending their bounds. The currents bear off 
the evaporation from the countries over which 
they pass, with the least obstructions, and dis- 
charge their stores on lands adjacent to moun- 
tains. As the deserts extend, the neighbour- 
ing kingdoms become warmer, both from the 
dryness of the atmosphere, and from the heat 
it receives from the burning sands. Hence we 
have the cause of the eastern continent being 
warmer now than three thousand years ago; 
and the cause why Midia became warmer 
before the more western countries. 

Thus we account for the cause of deserts 
encroaching upon, and even covering the sites 
of renowned cities, and famed monuments of 
antiquity. 

Could the remains of superb cities, for cen- 
turies buried beneath the burning wastes, or 
the magnificent pillars, long secluded from the 
sight of mortals deep below the sandy billows; 
could these now speak to us in a language which 
we could not misunderstand, would they not 
declare, "That by degrees the refreshing dews 
and the revivifying showers of heaven, were 
withholden from them; that the lands became 
scorched and barren; that instead of exhilira- 



14& 

ting breezes from the meadows, there came 
the parching winds from the deserts; that in- 
stead of storms of rain to refresh languishing 
nature, there came tempests of burning sands 
to bury fainting animation in lasting oblivion." 
Thus cities, provinces, and empires, were de- 
populated, towers and temples covered, rivers 
and harbours filled, and the desolation and 
ruin, of which travellers bear witness, were 
produced. 

The current of air which we have described, 
on leaving Africa, moves in an uninterrupted 
course towards South America, pressing the 
waters of the Atlantic to the west, which causes 
the gulf stream as it is turned by the north- 
east coast of South America to the north-west. 
But the current in the atmosphere rolls over 
the plains of Brazil, Guiana, and Amazonia, 
laden with the moisture raised from the At- 
lantic, from Africa, the Mediterranean, the 
south parts of Europe, south-west section of 
Asia, from the Indian ocean, and perhaps from 
the fertile plains of Austral Asia; these are 
propelled by succeeding currents up the sides 
of the insuperable Andes, which roll back, and 
the pursuing vapours condense, and descend 
in the heavy rains and tempests which supply 
the Amazon, Laplata, Oronoco, and the innu- 
merable tributaries which they bear to the 



148 

ocean. These rains give richness and luxu- 
riance to the soil, which are not known in the 
old world, and the indescribable growth of ve- 
getation which abounds in the countries east of 
the Andes. Hence we have the cause of the 
coolness and fertility of South America, while 
Africa, in the same latitude, is burning with 
, heat, and sterile with drought. Hence, we 
have the cause of there being so many and 
large streams in South America, while they 
are few and small in comparison, in Africa. 
South America is, in extent inferior to Africa. 
The greater part of both quarters of the world 
lie in the torrid zone, both experience the same 
vertical rays of the sun, and unless some se- 
condary cause opposed, both must endure the 
same degree of heat and sterility. Yet, South 
America is cool, while Africa is hot; the for- 
mer is fertile, while the latter is barren; the 
one is adorned with the most luxuriant growth 
of every species of vegetables, while the other 
is covered with parched burning sands. South 
America is refreshed by thousands of majestic 
rivers, flowing pure and rapidly through every 
plain, while less than one hundredth part in 
number and size are thinly scattered through 
Africa, and scarcely move their stagnant wa- 
ters along their contracted channels. 



144 

If no more vapours descended in South 
America than are raised there, and all had 
condensed in Africa which the vertical sun put 
in motion, the latter would be as fertile and 
copiously watered as the former. 

The Andes are so high, that no clouds pass 
their summits, that all their stores are dis- 
charged on the east of that stupendous range, 
except what is turned to the south-west, and 
produce the storms at Cape Horn, or to the 
north-west along the coasts of Terra Firma, 
whose course and effects will be traced to 
North America. 

That none of these vapours pass the Andes, 
appears evident from the quantity of rain 
which falls on the east of them, while in Peru 
on the west it seldom rains. 

The section of the current of air which 
crosses the Atlantic, and is obstructed by the 
north-east coast of South America, presses to 
the north-west along the shores, drives the 
waters through the Caribbean sea, which with 
the current of air ranges around the coast of 
the Gulf of Mexico; the waters turn to the 
east around the Floridas, while the lighter 
fluid moves up the vale of the Mississippi, re- 
viving vegetation with the warm and moist 
particles which it has brought from the torrid 
zone. This current drives the waters into the 



145 

Gulf of Mexico which are elevated against the 
shore, and is the cause of their being higher 
there than in the Pacific, on the opposite coast. 
Hence we have a cause of the climate being 
warmer on the west than on the east of the 
Alleghany mountains, in the same latitude. 

Thus the evaporation has been brought from 
the old world, and discharged on the new ever 
since the general deluge, and ever since that 
period their deserts have been extending, and 
their climate becoming warmer. 

Before the deluge, the mountains on the 
eastern continent, in general running from east 
to west, presented but small barriers to the cur- 
rent of air which regularly followed the course 
of the sun from east to west, but when Ame- 
rica was raised, the mountains ascended in 
ranges nearly from north to south, a great 
change was produced in the currents of air. — 
Then the majestic Andes, whose towering 
summits project far above the flight of any 
clouds, opposed the currents of the atmosphere 
and turned them in various directions. This 
has been the cause of many changes in climate 
in the different empires of the world. 
13 



146 

PROOF XX. 
Of the Rainbow. 

For another proof in favour of our theory^ 
we introduce the rainbow as a bright and shi- 
ning witness. 

It will be admitted, that no rainbow ap- 
peared in the heavens before the flood. After 
the waters subsided, God caused it to appear 
as a seal that the world should be drowned no 
more. But few can be ignorant of the cause 
of the rainbow. If the cause had existed be- 
fore the flood, we believe the effects would 
have been the same as it now is, and the rain- 
bow would have appeared. Before the floods 
no clouds appeared in the horizon, or heavens, 
opposite to the sun, to reflect his light and 
form the bow. There was no rain before the 
flood. For the Lord God had not caused it 
to rain upon the earth. But there went up a 
mist from the face of the earth, and watered 
the whole face of the ground. This mist was 
dew, which, when the sun declined, descended 
and refreshed the thirsty fields.* If any 

* If an)- doubt that dews would be sufficient to refresh the earth, 
and support vegetation, they are referred to Egypt and Peru, in both 
of which places the soil is fertile, and the growth of vegetation abun- 
dant and luxuriant. If the same vapour descended in the night which 
arose in the day time, the earth would never thirst. This vapour 
being borne away, is the cause of droughts; and if vegetation was 
regularly supplied with moisture, we believe it would flourish to a 
►much higher degree of perfection, 



147 

clouds appeared in the heavens, they regularly 
followed the course of the sun to intercept his 
piercing beams, or in gentle mists to refresh 
where he rendered thirsty. Then Africa, 
Arabia, and Persia, smiled with verdure. But 
when the firm foundations of the deep be- 
came insuperable barriers to the current of the 
atmosphere, and obstructed the course of thfe 
clouds, they were turned by the eddying 
streams in every direction, and clouds meeting 
clouds, discharged their stores in copious effu- 
sions. Then condensing vapours were brought 
together, opposite to the sun, and reflected his 
brilliant beams to the eye of the enraptured 
beholder, 

PROOF XXL 

The Longevity of the dniedeluvians, 

In this place, to prove the accuracy of our 
system, we will introduce the venerable ante- 
deluvians, who, in juvenal sports and youthful 
amusements, saw many centuries roll away. — 
The longevity of primeval ages depended much 
on the uniformity and mildness of the climate, 
and the purity of the atmosphere. Then there 
were no changes in the weather to heat and chill 
the human frame, and to produce diseases to 
hasten dissolution. Then there were no noxious 
effluvia arising from alluvion, to generate mala- 



148 

dies, and to bear poison and death through 
the system of man. That there was a sud- 
den change in the seasons, and that it was ne- 
cessary that the constitution of man should be 
changed, appears from the Almighty's then 
granting him animal food. 

It appears evident, that the change which 
was made in the surface of the earth at the 
time of the deluge, was so great, that had the 
same mortal eye seen a country before and 
after the catastrophe, it would not have known 
that it had been the same. Those who pre- 
tend to identify the place where the garden of 
Eden was situated, seem to rest their argu- 
ments on a slender thread. We can form no 
probable conjecture of the first blissful abode of 
man, only from the name of the river Euphra- 
tes; no other rivers answering the description 
of those mentioned by the inspired writer; and 
the present river Euphrates may not be within 
a thousand miles of the one alluded to in 
Scripture. That the ark rested on the moun- 
tains from which the present Euprates flows, 
we have no doubt. Noah and his sons, doubt- 
less had a knowledge of the former Euphrates, 
and they probably gave the present one the 
name of the former, believing it to be the same 
river, or in remembrance of the one on whose 
banks perhaps they lived. From the present 



14<J 

situation of that part of the world, it would be 
impossible for any one of the rivers mentioned 
as flowing from the garden of Eden, to have 
encompassed the whole land of Ethiopia, if the 
same country was called Ethiopia then that 
now is; and the rivers had their rise near the 
the present Euphrates. 

If the ark had rested in Abyssinia, the 
Nile would have been called the Euphrates, 
and so of any other river on the face of the 
earth; and time would have established the 
error. Moses does not intimate where this 
river was. But if that is the river to which 
he alluded, and the Gihon which encompassed 
the land of Ethiopia, and that Ethiopia is the 
modern one, this account goes far to support 
our theory. For a river to encompass that 
land, there must have been land where now 
the sea of Arabia and the Indian ocean are, 
and if so, the formation of their present ba- 
sins accord with our former views of the for- 
mation of the beds of the seas in the old 
world. 

That there was more land and fewer seas on 
the eastern continent before the flood than 
since, and that the face of the land was very 
different from the present, appears equally 
evident. Then it was more level; most of the 
deep cavities were made by the torrents of the 
13* 



150 

flood. The rivers were more in number, but 
less in magnitude, than the present; for there 
were no rains which would cause rivers to 
rise, extend their channels, and force pas- 
sages to each other. 

There were no great alluvial deposits, for 
there were no streams of sufficient magnitude 
to make any; and as we believe many of the 
disorders which agonize and wreck the human 
frame, arise from the effluvia of putrefying ve- 
getables, the human race were much more 
healthy than at the present time. 

Before the flood, the greater part of the 
lands were situated in the torrid zone, or as 
near the situation of the equator at that time, 
as the tropics now are to our present one. 
One pole of the earth then was to the west of 
the centre of North America, in latitude about 
thirty -eight degrees north, and longitude one 
hundred and seven degrees west from London. 
The other was in the great South sea, south- 
east from the cape of Good Hope, in latitude 
thirty-eight degrees south and seventy-three 
degrees east from London; which brought the 
equator over nearly the centre of Asia, along 
the mountains of Tartary, across the south- 
east par^ of Europe, and south-west section of 
Africa; that the whole of the then habitable 
world was in temperate latitudes, and refresh- 



151 

ed by the regular breezes which followed the 
course of the sun. 

When the waters were repelled from one 
side of the globe, and accumulated several 
miles in height on the other, the centre of gra- 
vity in the earth being removed, the poles 
were suddenly changed in their position, and 
brought the equinoctial line near to the place 
in which it is now described. Before the 
poles of the earth were changed, nearly an 
equal proportion of land was on each side of 
the equator; but now more being to the north 
than to the south of that line, the mountains 
being further from the centre of the sphere, 
than the ocean, act as longer levers in the 
diurnal motions; and though the height of 
mountains are but small, compared to the 
semidiameter of the globe, yet their effects in 
a number of centuries are perceived. They 
are the cause of the recession of the equinoxes, 
a change in the points of intersection of the 
equator and the ecliptic of about fifty se- 
conds in a year. Thus the change of the 
poles produced a great change of the zones 
and of the climates on the old continent. 
Hence the bones of elephants, and trees of 
tropical growth, which are buried in Siberia 
and the Frigid zone, now repose in the same 
soil, on which those animals fed and sported^ 



452 

shaded by the spreading branches of forests, 
which now are mouldering with them. And 
the huge mammoth, shrouded in a mountain of 
ice, at the mouth of the Lena, received his 
polished mantle in the same vicinity, where 
once he basked in the vertical rays of a sum- 
mer's sun.* 

PROOF XXII. 

Of the appearance of our Continent. 

That our continent is but a youth compared 
to the other, appears in every object. Long 
it has, and still continues to be nourished by 
the dews of the old world, as with milk from 
the breast of a parent. Here every thing 
appears in youthful vigour; there are stamped 

* It may be suggested, that these remains were transported to the 
cold regions by the currents of the deluge, as St. Pierre has in- 
ferred; but there are a number of weighty objections to these ideas. 
1st, If the animals had been transported there from the torrid zone, 
by the currents of the deluge, they must have been in a less per- 
fect state of preservation, than they are found to be. 2nd, The trees 
of the growth of warm climates, could not have been transported 
there by the raging flood, and be so tree from injuries as they are 
found to be; some are found with their roots imbedded in the soil 
which once supported them, that they must have grown on the soil 
on which they now rest, or in which they are buried. 3d, If the 
animals and vegetables had been transported to Siberia, from the 
torrid zone, they would have been carried by some currents into 
heaps or masses. No such collections have been discovered in those 
regions; but they are promiscuously scattered over the north part of 
Asia, as if an instantaneous calamity had overwhelmed them, when 
they were reposing in their native forests, and were suddenly bu- 
ried by the waters and alluvion. 



153 

the marks of declining age. Here the streams 
flow full, pure, and rapid, as circulate the 
fluids in a healthful youth emerging to man- 
hood; There slow, sluggish, and small, they 
creep along their once extensive channels, as 
move corrupted fluids in the parched and 
shrivelled veins, worn out by age, by folly, 
and vice. Here in every vale and depression 
of land, are springs, rills, and brooks, whose 
banks are adorned with innumerable flowers, 
loading the breezes with their fragrance, and 
cooling the air with their exhalations, all com- 
bining to variegate and enrich the scene; as 
in youth when all the pores are in tune, when 
health and genius glow in every feature, and 
strength and activity are expressed in every 
motion. Far otherwise is the appearance in the 
parent world; there are vast hollows without 
brooks, and channels without rivers, and bar- 
renness and desolation rest upon their bor- 
ders; all are as indicative of age and decay, 
as a body without moisture, or a countenance 
disfigured by dry and parched wrinkles. 
Thrifty forests are the splendid tresses of our 
youthful continent; there barren heaths and 
sandy deserts show that age and disease must 
soon overtake all that is mortal. Our cool, 
moist, and exhilirating breezes are the breath 
of our youthful and vigourous lands; there, 



154 

emblematical of disease and dissolution are 
the Harmattan, the Sirocc, the Samiel, and 
Simoom, which carry poison and death in their 
train. 

It may be observed, "That our continent 
bears many distinguishing marks of antiquity 
in the remains that are almost daily brought to 
light." It is true, there are remains of re- 
mote antiquity reposing beneath the alluvion, 
in almost every part of our continent, but the 
situations of these remains are far different 
from what they are in the eastern hemisphere. 
Here they are promiscuously scattered through 
our plains, mountains, and vallies, as if de- 
signed to fertilize our soil. A youth may be" 
surrounded by the works of his ancestors, may 
feed on the substance which they have collect- 
ed, and still be in youth or in the vigour of 
life. Here rich mould which of late has been 
deposited by currents, covers the remains of an- 
tiquity which are so frequently brought to light. 
There barren sands which have been gathered 
by scorching winds envelope the remains of 
ancient grandeur. Cities, once the proud mis- 
tresses of mighty empires, surrounded by ver- 
dant fields, spicy groves, and luxuriant val- 
lies, are now heaps of ruins, enclosed by de- 
serts which the fell monsters of the wilderness 
scarcely dare to traverse. The poisonous winds 



155 

have blasted the verdure of their fields, anni- 
hilated their fertility, and tempests of sand 
have buried their plains and valiies, gardens, 
arches, and temples, in lasting ruin. Where 
are the fertile plains, extensive aqueducts, 
commodious harbours, and superb edifices of 
the once proud rival of Rome? Beneath the 
billowing sand are they to be sought. No ver- 
dant lawns, nor blooming vegetation is fanned 
by the zephyrs, where once was the fertile 
garden of the world. Nothing but scenes of 
desolation and ruin are now presented to the 
eye, where the hum of business, the carols of 
mirth, or the din of war assailed. 

Far different is the soil which covers the 
monuments of antiquity on our youthful conti- 
nent. Here waters commissioned by hea- 
ven to devastate the old world have brought 
the fatness of their soil, and deposited it with 
alluvia on our plains, whose fertility is mani- 
fested in the majestic forests, and abundant 
harvests which are witnessed here. 

PROOF XXIII. 

Of the unhealthful state of our Continent. 

Our continent has been often accused by the 
inhabitants of the eastern hemisphere, of be- 
ing more unhealthy than theirs. We do not 



156 

deny but many diseases are more prevalent here 
than in the old world, and the causes when ex- 
p] ined, will serve to support our theory Epi- 
demics, and such diseases as are generated 
by decaying, or putrefying vegetation, are the 
diseases, and the only ones which are more 
prevalent here than on the eastern continent. 

Our immense tracts of alluvial countries, in 
which masses of vegetables are deposited, 
when divested of the shading forests, and are 
exposed to the rays of the sun, emit an efflu- 
via, which, when inhaled, engender disease. 
The most of our alluvial deposits having been 
mace by the flood from the north, several cen- 
turies after the general deluge formed the 
last stratum in Europe, as many centuries must 
roll away after our wilderness is converted to 
cultivated fields, as did after the general de- 
luge before our alluvion was formed, prior to 
our climate's being as free from noxious va- 
pours, as is the climate of the other quarters of 
the globe. 

When we examine attentively, the state of 
alluvion in our country, and the places and 
seasons in which epidemics prevail, the posi- 
tions we have taken will be seen founded in 
truth. The epidemic is not limitted to any 
climate, but has prevailed at different periods, 
almost from one extremity of our continent to 



157 

the other; but. in or near those places where 
are most vegetable deposits, it has prevailed 
more frequently, and has been more destructive. 
In every part of our country when the forests 
have been removed, and the soil and vegetable 
mould has been heated by the summer sun, fe- 
vers in various degrees of malignity have pre- 
vailed. But, where the lands are high, and 
have but little alluvia in the vicinity? in a few 
years they become as healthful as any parts of 
the world. In some instances cities, or towns 
which have an elevated situation, and are 
builded on ground which is not alluvion, have 
been visited by malignant fevers. In such in- 
stances the effluvia arising from vegetable de- 
posits, perhaps at many miles distant, by regu- 
1 r breezes from that quarter, are borne to the 
elevated situation, inhaled with the atmos- 
pheric air, and produce deadly disease. But, 
in many instances where cities are upon, and 
surrounded by alluvion, for years they will 
escape diseases of a malignant nature. If the 
season is cool, that vegetable remains are not 
heated below the strata from which the efflu- 
via, or animalcule of preceding seasons have 
arisen, no malignant disease prevails. The 
season may be hot, and if at the period when 
the secret implements of disease and death are 
loosened, the current of air is from the eity ; 
14 



158 

the deadly particles are transported to a dis- 
tance, and if a settlement obstruct their flight, 
many will mourn their unexpected arrival. 

In the southern part of our country, as we 
have described, where the current from the 
north was opposed by that which flowed down 
the Atlantic into the gulf of Mexico, most al- 
luvion is found, and most vegetable remains 
are mingled with the strata, and in that sec- 
tion of our land, we are to expect that malig- 
nant diseases will be most frequent, and will 
longer prevail. But when our country has as 
long been exposed to the winds and sun, as 
have the alluvial districts in Europe, they can- 
not with propriety say, that our land is more 
subject to diseases than their own, except in 
one particular. If our theory is correct, dews 
and vapours are brought from the old world to 
the new. If so, the noxious effluvia which 
rise there, may be borne to our continent, and 
continue to affect the constitution of our bodies, 
debilitate and weaken our mortal frames.* 



* In many parts of the old world they are subject to diseases which 
never visited our shores. The winds from the deserts not only prove 
destructive to man, but brutes and vegetables fall a prey to their 
fury. On the West India islands, much alluvion was deposited as 
we have described, and there epnlemic diseases prevail more perhaps 
than in any parts of th^ world. In South America, except in the 
north part where alluvion was formed by the last flood, epidemics 
seldom prevail. In Brazil, and some parts ot Peru, the climate is as 



159 

PROOF XXIV. 

Of the Insects, Vegetation, 8£c. of America, 

It may be thought by some, that it is for the 
want of more weighty proofs to establish our 
theory, that we descend to the insects, rep- 
tiles, and vegetable tribes, as witnesses to sup- 
port us in the premises we have taken. But, 
we consider nothing of little consequence which 
God has made. His wisdom, power, and 
goodness are as much displayed in the small- 
est insect that is wafted on the wings of the 
wind, as in the towering mountains whose 
summits are hid beyond the clouds, or in the 
expanse of the ocean whose waves encompass 
our sphere. The same Omniscient Being who 
created, preserves and regulates the shining 
worlds and systems that range the unlimitted 
fields of ether, and appointed to each its sta- 
tion and use, has exercised Omniscience in 
creating the smallest plant that grows, or the 
meanest reptile that moves, and employed the 
same goodness in appointing to each an office, 
to promote the happiness of the general whole. 

■warm as on the coasts of Terra Firma; yet, in the former places, de- 
structive fevers have been scarcely heard of, in the latter they have 
been frequent. In Terra Firma they are not so frequent and fatal as 
they were formerly. Admiral Vernon visited these coasts, at a pe- 
riod when most of the secret messengers of death were sent forto-, 
and many of his hapkss crew fell victims to their fury. 



160 

God has created nothing in vain. The vast 
chain of creation would be incomplete, were 
one species of insects, or even of vegetables 
destroyed.* Inconsistently w r e complain of the 
inconveniences we endure from thorns, bram- 
bles, noxious weeds, and poisonous insects^ and 
reptiles, and reflect not, that were it not for 
these, we should be subject to far greater 
afflictions. We have more insects and vermes 
than are found in Europe. When we reflect 
on the offices to be performed by this part of 
God's creation, we readily perceive, that ac- 
cording to our theory of the formation of coun- 
tries, more insects and noxious plants are re* 
quired in America, than in any other quarter 
of the globe. Here, as has been observed, are 

* It will be observed then, that this chain has often been broken, 
as in the revolutions of nature which have been described, many 
species have become extinct. But it will be remembered, that all 
these changes and revolutions have been wrought by the hand of 
God; and have or will be conducive to the happiness of man. As the 
revolutions and catastrophes which our planet has experienced have 
produced changes in the seasons, in temperature of climate, and even 
in the order and economy of nature, it has been necessary, that the 
constitutions of man, and of the various species of beings in the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms be changed. By these revolutions some spe- 
cies, and even genera became useless and Were destro)ed. Others 
have been changed, that they may better perform the various duties 
devolving on them. Such we conceive is the state of man. At the 
general deluge, such a change was wrought in our planet, and in the 
elements, that God in his wisdom saw fit to change the constitution 
of the human race, as well as of the brute creation. That there was 
such a change, we infer from the word of God. When man was first 
created by the com nand of God, iruits and vegetables were to be his 
only food. These likewise were to be the sustenance of every raov- 



161 

more alluvial formations, and of later date than 
on the eastern continent. Hence, more noxi- 
ous effluvia arise. These effluvia are of vari- 
ous sizes, shapes, and properties. The de- 
sign of insects is to devour these poisonous 
particles which otherwise would render the 
air unfit for respiration. These particles are 
poison: hence, the insects become poisonous from 
the food on which they live. One species of 
insects is formed by infinite wisdom, and orga- 
nized for the reception of one kind of effluvia, 
and one for another. The larger feed on the 
less, and as the effluvia cease to rise, one ge- 
neration has performed their office, they expire. 
Here see the wisdom and goodness of God. 
One generation of insects deposit their ovia 
which lie dormant, till the heat of the vernal 
sun causes fermentation in vegetable matter, 

ing thing. But when the waters of the flood subsided, and God bless- 
ed Noah and his sons, he said unto them, Every moving thing that 
liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you 
all things. It is evident, that in changing the diet of man in so es- 
sential a manner, it was necessary that his constitution should be 
changed; and the same of the brute creation, for the food of many 
species since the deluge, has been animal. From Genesis, chap. viii. 
ver. l 2 l 2, we infer that, at that period, a great change was wrought 
in the seasons. While the earin remaineih, seed time, and harvest, 
and cold, and heat, and summer, and winter, and day, and night, 
shall not cease. We conceive, that before the deluge there was no 
change in seasons, as has been described, and no regular seed time 
and harvest, for it mattered not when the seed was committed to the 
faithful bosom of the earth, for before there was no cold nor heat. 
The cause of these changes has been explained in tlie change of the 
poles of the earth. 

14* 



162 

and the noxious effluvia are sent forth. Then 
each embryo insect bursts from his secret cell, 
and millions and millions fill the air, not in 
vain sport as fancy represents, but in the most 
active employment in gathering, in conquering, 
and destroying, the enemies of the peace and 
happiness ©f man When their employment is 
ended as autumn advances, they rest from their 
labours. But their frames, though small, hav- 
ing been nourished by poisonous particles, if 
permitted to decay on the surface of the earth 
would again envenom the atmosphere. But a 
Being, perfect in wisdom and goodness, has 
provided against this inconvenience, When 
autumn approaches, when effluvia cease to 
rise, when insects retire from the regions of 
the air, then myriads and myriads of vermes 
are sent forth on the surface of the earth to 
collect and bear to their cells the carcases of 
such as have fallen. 

In warm climates, where no frosts destroy 
these vermes, numerous species of reptiles and 
venomous serpents are placed, and fitted with 
proper organs to receive the poison which has 
been collected from the atmosphere. Where- 
ever stagnant waters or sunken marshes 
abound, innumerable insects fill the air in the 
summer, unnumbered species of vermes cover 
the ground in autumn, and frightful serpents 



163 

lurk concealed in every bramble. When marsh- 
es are drained, forests are removed, the lands 
cultivated, and the vegetable mould is puri- 
fied, there is no further employment for these 
numerous species of beings, their numbers di- 
minish, as their services are less needed. 

Noxious weeds and brambles are designed 
for a similar purpose. All vegetables are so 
constructed, that they purify the air. The 
noxious ones receive such impure particles 
from the atmosphere, as insects were not orga- 
nized to deposit. Culinary plants receive 
those of a purer quality, and all of them throw 
off a fluid which is congenial and exhilirating 
to animal life. 

In rich alluvial formations, we find many 
more species of vegetables as well as insects; 
and the newer and richer the soil, the more 
abundant both will be. 5 * 

Then it is advisable that there be more in- 
sects, vermes, &c. on our continent than on 
the eastern: and as it has pleased the Almighty 

** Should our cities, which are subject to disorders arising from the 
effluvia of putrefying vegetation, be diversified with here and there a 
square, in which various kinds of trees common on alluvial forma- 
tions, together with thorns, briars, thistles, nettles, and various other 
noxious weeds, should be suffered to grow unmolested, the numerous 
species of insects would find a safe retreat in them, and the deathful 
particles, instead of being incorporated in the human fi-ame, would 
flow to the reservoirs which the God of nature has formed to receive 
them , 



16* 

to give us a most luxuriant soil, we must 
expect numerous species of insects, and they 
will continue to abound, till our marshes and 
forests are no more, and till our alluvial soil 
by cultivation, is made to discharge the nox- 
ious effluvia — then we shall be in want of no 
purifiers of the air, and then we shall be as 
free from them as any part of the world. 

PROOF XXV. 

The Tides. 

In introducing a subject like this, the author 
is aware of the difficulties he has to encounter. 
In regard to the other phenomena of nature 
which he has attempted to explain, there is a 
variety of opinions, if any opinions on the 
whole of them have been formed. But the 
phenomenon of the rise and fall of the waters 
of the ocean, and the various currents which 
prevail along diverse coasts, has been account- 
ed for by the illustrious Newton. The 
opinion of one so deservedly eminent, of one 
whose name has been elevated to the highest 
degree in the scale of science, the name or 
opinion of such a man, though none will deny 
but the greatest of human kind may embrace 
some errors, goes far, very far, to incline the 
minds of a community to a prejudice against 



165 

innovations. No man has read the works of 
the immortal Newton with more pleasure 
and edification than the author. None has a 
more exalted opinion of his talents, pays more 
respect to his memory, or is in more admira- 
tion in contemplating the blessings which his 
unlimited mind brought to the scientific world. 
Yet perfection is not to be found in man. The 
greatest that ever lived, cannot but say he had 
embraced some errors. 

The brilliant rays and sublime effulgence of 
Sir Isaac Newton's genius, may have dazzled 
the eyes of many, that beneath the splendid 
beams of his talents defects or errors may lie 
unseen. 

It is the opinion of the author, that a mind 
in pursuit of truth, should not receive as infal- 
lible the ideas of any man, unless accompanied 
by complete demonstrations. Great men may 
have great errors. 

The constant dropping of water will wear 
away the hardest rock; mountains, by industry 
and perseverance may be removed; but more 
difficult is the task to remove an error founded 
by a great man, and fixed by the prejudice of 
ages. But there is more merit in striving 
alone against the torrent of error, than in gli- 
ding quietly with a multitude down the stream 
to the stagnant waters of oblivion. 



166 

The cause of the tides having perplexed and 
agitated the minds of the ancient philosophers, 
and having for centuries been ranked among 
the mysteries beyond the bounds of human 
comprehension, serves to bias the mind against 
receiving an explanation which is plain and 
simple. 

In every age of the world, new discoveries 
have been made. One discovery or invention 
leads to another, and the steps of science are 
so wisely constructed, that every succeeding 
one is more easily ascended. 

Had the ancient sages and philosophers pos- 
sessed such a knowledge of the surface of our 
planet, of the oceans and continents, seas and 
islands, as the moderns have, they would not 
have laboured so much in vain to demonstrate 
the ebbing and flowing of the ocean. And it 
is believed, that had Sir Isaac Newton been 
possessed of facts which have been brought to 
light since the world was honoured by his pre- 
sence, that he would never have laboured to es- 
tablish and support a theory, loaded with such 
inconsistencies as his is, of the tides, and 
which is almost universally adopted. 

Many of mankind prefer adopting without 
examination theories of great men, to taking 
the labour of investigating them. Sir Isaac 
Newton was a great man. He made many 



167 

and great discoveries. He corrected many 
great errors of great men, who had shone as 
stars of the first magnitude in the firmament 
above, before the world was favoured with his 
presence. But, though the sun which enlight- 
ens our sphere, and emits light and heat to the 
numerous and magnificent worlds that revolve 
around him is a glorious brilliant orb, for all wise 
purposes, he is not wholly luminous. Though 
the splendor of his rays so dazzles our eyes that 
he appears a perfect sphere of light, yet on 
more acute examination, there are opaque spots 
on his surface. 

The author believes, that human nature is 
not only liable to depart from truth, but is in- 
clined to error; and believing Sir Isaac New- 
ton to be in an error in regard to his theory of 
the tides, he considers it a duty which he owes 
to his fellow creatures, to make known his ob- 
jections to that theory, and explain another 
which appears to him to be more simple, more 
consistent with the principles of philosophy, 
and far more coincident with the immutable 
laws of the God of nature. 

We will endeavour, first, to examine briefly 
Sir Isaac Newton's theory of the tides. 

After we have reconnoitred the works he 
has erected, and prejudice has fortified, we 
will see if we have force to destroy the forti- 



168 

fieations; and then endeavour to build a castle, 
on a foundation firm as reason, unshaken as 
true philosophy, and durable as the laws of 
nature. 

Sir Isaac Newton's Theory of the Tides. 

In taking a view of the theory of the tides, 
founded by this great man, it is necessary to 
refer the mind of the reader to the system of 
worlds of which our globe makes but a small 
part. 

The sun is the centre of our system. Eleven 
spheres resembling the earth, some greater and 
some less than our planet, revolve around the 
sun in periods of time proportionable to their 
distance from the sun. Five of these worlds 
had not been discovered when Sir Isaac New- 
ton lived. Eighteen other spheres, resem- 
bling the earth in shape and matter, but less in 
magnitude, belong to the solar system. These 
are denominated moons, secondary planets, or 
satellites, and in their revolutions round the 
sun as a common centre, they pass the orbits 
of the respective primary planets which they 
are destined to attend. 

The earth has one moon, or attendant se- 
condary planet; Jupiter four; Saturn seven: 
and Herschel six. No secondary planets have 



169 

been discovered accompanying the other seven 
primary planets. 

The earth is nearly eight thousand miles in 
diameter, and performs its course round the 
sun, at the mean distance of ninety-five mil- 
lions of miles from the sun. 

The moon is little more than two thousand 
miles in diameter, and accompanies the earth 
round the sun at the mean distance of two 
hundred and forty thousand miles from the 
earth. 

Admitting the earth to be eight thousand 
miles in diameter, it contains five hundred and 
twelve thousand millions of cubic miles; and 
allowing the moon to be two thousand two hun- 
dred miles in diameter, which is nearly its 
size, that orb contains ten thousand six hun- 
dred and forty- eight millions of cubic miles, 
malting the earth nearly fifty times as large as 
the moon, or containing nearly fifty times as 
many cubic miles of matter as the moon does. 

It is the opinion of the greatest philosophers, 
that not only the moon, but all the bodies com- 
posing the solar system, are formed of matter 
similar to that of the earth, and are the habi- 
tations of intelligent beings. To account for 
the phenomena of the motions and appearances 
of the heavenly bodies, they admit that they 
are all attracted by the sun in proportion to 
15 



170 

the quantity of matter they contain, and their 
distances from the sun. They also attract 
each other in the same ratio. This is doubt- 
less the case, for in no other manner can we 
account for the various appearances of the 
planets.* 

Sir Isaac Newton, and a greater philosopher 
never lived on earth, supposed, and attempted 
to prove; that the waters of the ocean, and of 

* Here we trust we shall be excused for giving our opinion in some 
points of astronomy, which it is believed have not been suggested by 
philosophers. The sun is the centre of our system; it has been dis- 
covered that it has a motion oa its axis, and being attracted by the 
planets, revolves in an orbit the diameter of which is less than the 
sun's diameter. 

We believe that the sun is performing a revolution in an extensive 
orbit, that the primary planets revolve round the sun not in circles, 
but in the same manner as the secondary planets revolve round the 
primaries. The centre of our system may move thousands of miles. 
in an hour, and we not perceive the motion, the sun being the great 
centre to which our attention is fixed. It does not appear consistent 
with reason and philosophy, to suppose that a body so large as the sun 
should have a rotary motion, and remain in or near the same place. 
All of the fixed stars are suns and centres to other systems. Numer- 
ous worlds, the abodes of intelligence, surround each of these shining 
spheres, which, like our sun, are all performing courses round some 
common or universal centre. The suns, as well as planets, are the 
residence of the creatures of God, all experiencing his munificence. 
God is unlimited in his power, and space which is adorned by worlds 
and shining spheres, is as extensive as the power and goodness of 
God. the stars or suns which once appeared in the heavens, and 
•were noted by the ancient astronomers, and have now vanished from 
our natural eyes, and from optical vision, were pei forming their 
tours in a different direction from our sun; and those which now emit 
their brilliant beams to earth, and shone not on ancient ken, have, in 
the vast machinery of creation, been approaching our system. The 
heavens dtclare the glo r y of God; and the Ji-rmament show forth his 
handy ivorks. 



m 

various bays, were made to rise by the influ- 
ence of the moon's attracting the earth; or that 
the waters were raised, and the various cur- 
rents of the ocean produced by the attraction 
of the sun and moon. The moon being sixty- 
four million seven hundred and sixty thousand 
miles nearer to the earth than the sun, would 
have more effect on the waters of our planet 
than the sun, though the latter is several mil- 
lions of times greater than the former. 

These phenomena he explains with a degree 
of ingenuity, peculiar to so noble a mind. The 
attraction of the moon on the waters, on ac- 
count of its being so much nearer to the earth, 
he says is in proportion to that of the sun as 
five to one. That as the moon raises the wa- 
ters five feet, the sun raises them one. The 
tides are higher at some times than others. — 
They are highest at new and full moon, and 
lowest at first and last quarters. 

"This," says the immortal Newton, "is oc- 
casioned by the influence of the sun and moon 
operating upon the waters in the same line of 
direction. 

"At the time of new moon, the sun and moon 
being on the same side of the earth, both at- 
tract the waters of the earth on the side to- 
wards them in the same direction, that on that 
side the waters rise to their greatest height. 



172 y/ 

On the opposite side of the earth, there is a 
high tide at the same time/' This, as the 
great philosopher says, "is owing to the same 
cause;" viz. The sun and moon attracting, for 
instance, on the west side of the earth, cause 
the waters to flow in that direction from, what 
for perspicuity we will call, the upper and 
lower sides of the earth. The waters on 
three sides of the earth being attracted to one 
side, to the west, causes the centre of gravity 
in the earth to be moved to the west; hence the 
waters on the opposite side, the east side of 
the earth being further from the centre of gra- 
vity, are drawn in a less degree towards the 
earth, or are inclined to flow in an opposite di- 
rection, and accumulate on the east side. — 
Hence there is a high tide on the east and 
west sides of the earth at the same time, 
while on the upper and lower sides, the 
Waters are low, on account of their having 
flowed to the east and west. 

When the moon arrives at first quarter, sup- 
pose above the earth, the sun is west of it; 
then the sun and moon attracting in quadra- 
ture, serve to bind the waters on the surface 
of the earth; hence there would be low or neap 
tides, the same at the time of the last quarter of 
the moon; but at full moon, or when the sun is 
an one side of the earth, and the moon on the 



173 

other, then high or spring tides are occasioned, 
says Newton, in the following manner. 

The moon attracting the waters to the east, 
raise them on the east of the earth, and those 
on the west, being inclined to flow to the west, 
are accelerated in that direction by the attrac- 
tion of the sun; hence we have a high tide on 
the opposite sides of the globe at new and full 
moon. 

In many bays of the ocean, the tides are 
much higher than in the ocean itself. This, 
the great philosopher says, is owing to the 
water of the ocean being pressed into them, 
and contracted into a narrower channel as they 
are driven up the bays, and are found to rise 
higher towards the heads of the bays. 

In seas and lakes there are no tides. This^ 
the same great man says, is on account of their 
small dimensions; that every part of the sur- 
face of such small bodies of water, being so 
nearly equi- distant from the sun, or moon, that 
every part is equally attracted, and one part 
cannot be raised above another. 

In some parts of the ocean, the currents of 
the tides flow in various directions. This, he 
says, is produced by the situation of the 
coasts. 

These are the principal heads in the New- 
15* 



174 

tonian theory of the tides, and our limits per- 
mit us not to notice more. 

Though we conceive that the premises and 
conclusions are erroneous, none can but ad- 
mire a genius so adroit, as will make false pre- 
mises appear so plausible, and then draw con- 
clusions so completely coinciding with them. 

We will first attempt to prove, that the pre- 
mises assumed by Sir Isaac Newton, in his 
theory of the tides, are not correct. 

1st. He says that the moon, by attracting 
the earth or the waters on its surface, causes 
the tides. 

He has proved, that the force of attraction 
in two or more bodies, is in proportion to the 
quantity of matter in the bodies, and their dis- 
tances from each other. The moon being much 
nearer to the earth than the sun is, attracts 
the waters more than the sun. If the moon 
attracts the earth more than the sun does, as 
it must if it raises the waters higher, the earth 
would revolve round the moon as a centre; but 
the earth, in its whole revolution, does not in- 
cline towards the moon. This Sir Isaac New- 
ton himself has clearly explained. The earth 
does not attract the moon so much as the sun 
does, because in no part of its orbit does the 
moon move from the sun. If the earth attrac- 
ted the moon more than that body is attracted 



175 

by the sun, at new moon, or when the earth is 
on one side of the moon, and the sun on the - 
the other, the orbit of the moon would incline 
towards the earth, which is not the case. 

If bodies attract each other in proportion to 
their distances and quantity of matter, the 
earth being nearly fifty times larger than the 
moon, would attract the waters on its own 
surface more than the moon attracts, when that 
comparatively small body is two hundred and 
forty thousand miles distant. If the earth at- 
tracts the waters more than the moon attracts 
them, they would not rise or depart from the 
centre of gravity in the earth. If the moon 
attracts the waters more than the earth does, 
they would flow to the moon with a motion con- 
stantly accelerating as that of a body descend- 
ing to the earth. 

If the moon has force of attraction to raise 
the waters ten feet, they are further from the 
centre of attraction in the earth, and that in 
the moon is nearer; hence it would require 
less force to raise them the next ten feet, and 
the attraction of the moon being greater upon 
them because they are nearer; hence, all our 
waters would go to the moon. 

If the moon raises the waters on the surface 
of the earth by attraction; the waters on the 
earth's surface nearest to the moon would be 



176 

raised the highest. When the moon is perpen- 
dicular to the equator, the waters of the ocean 
on the equator are more than seven thousand 
miles nearer to the moon that the waters at the 
poles of the earth: yet the waters near the 
equator do not rise so high as towards the 
poles. When on the equator, the tides rise 
but two or three feet, in high latitudes they 
rise from twenty to sixty feet. If the attrac- 
tion of the moon causes the waters to rise, on 
several accounts, they would rise higher on 
the equator than in any other parts of the 
oceans. The projectile force on the equator 
is greater than towards the poles that the wa- 
ters would be easier raised. The diameter of 
the earth from east to west is greater than from 
north to south, that the surface of the globe on 
the equator is further from the centre of gra- 
vity than the poles, that a body of matter on 
the equator, though it contains the same quan- 
tity, is lighter than the same body would be 
towards the poles. The extent of the oceans 
on the equator is greater than towards the 
north pole, that a greater quantity of waters 
would be affected by attraction, they would be 
drawn further and rise higher than in the nar- 
row parts of the ocean to the north, yet they 
rise but little on the equator. The regular 
trade winds on the equator would assist the 



177 

moon in raising the waters if she discovered 
the least disposition to deprive our centre of 
gravity of its balance or power. The trade 
w r inds blow from east to west, and incline the 
waters in the same direction. The earth turn- 
ing from west to east, that the moon comes to 
the meridian on the east coast of an ocean or 
continent, before it does to the west, that the 
current of the ocean would be uniformly to the 
west. 

Hence, when the moon reached the meri- 
dian over the east coast of either continent, the 
whole current of the ocean on the east of such 
a coast would be arrested there, and there 
would be the highest tides; but the reverse is 
true. 

In most lakes, and in such seas as have no 
communication with the ocean, or if but small 
straits connect the ocean to them, there is no 
tides. This is explained on account of their 
small extent. But in some lakes much less than 
these seas and lakes which have no tides, the 
waters rise and fall as regular as in the ocean. 
In the Caspian, Black, and Baltic seas, and in 
various other extensive beds of water, there 
are no tides; yet in bays not a tenth part so 
extensive, the waters are raised to a great 
height. But this it is said, is owing to the 
water's pressing into the bays from the ocean* 



178 

But the waters begin to rise in the bays before 
they do in the ocean communicating with them, 
and first flow from the bays to the ocean. 

The surfaces of the above mentioned ^eas 
are so small, that the moon considers them un- 
worthy of her notice, and leaves them unagi- 
tated by her charms. Yet the bright queen of 
night condescends to look into many springs 
and wells, but a few feet in diameter, and by 
her mysterious smiles or frowns, causes the 
waters to rush from their secret retreats, and 
td rise as high as in the greatest ocean. 

In some parts of the oceans, the partial god- 
dess by her magic arts, agitates the briny 
waves but once in twenty-four hours. In other 
places the waves scarcely have rest from the 
influence of her mystic wand. Even when the 
merciless empress of the waters is vertical to 
their antipodes, the waves are not suffered to 
repose. Some of her secret agents rouse them 
from their slumbers, and cause them, surge 
propelling surge, to attack the sturdy shores.* 

* It is a prevailing opinion among a large classs of the community, 
that this miraculous being, which appears as pleasant in the night as 
errors do to minds in the darkness of ignorance, that the being which 
loses her splendour when the god of day smiles on a hemisphere, 
as ghosts retire at his approach, or as superstition recedes from 
the beams of science, it is the opinion of many, that this being has 
supreme command ot the vegetable kingdoms, as well as of the ocean. 
She is consulted as to the time most proper for the husbandman to 
sow his fields, as likewise when he shall gather the fruits of his indus- 
try. They believe, that if she is not particularly consulted, and he 



179 

But the arctic regions are most affected by her 
imperial sway. The waters near either pole 
seem her favourites, and are ambitious to serve 
her, against those which dwell in the equatori- 
al regions. The former rise at her appear- 
ance, and rush towards the latter as if to over- 
whelm them for their negligence or stupidity, 
but as they roll to warmer regions, their en- 
thusiasm diminishes, and in perfect harmony 
they unite under the laws which govern the 
torrid climes; and again recede to their respec- 
tive zones. 

Some have endeavoured to explain the cause 
of the waters rising higher towards the poles, 
from the following premises: 

times particularly regarded, she will blast the grain that they commit 
to the faithful bosom of the earth, or cause it to mould or rot when 
gathered in the store house. 

It is presumed, that this superstition is not wholly without founda- 
tion, and it is presumed that it took its rise from the following facts. 
The tides are highest at new and full moon, the cause of which will 
be explained without assigning omnipotence to empress Luna. In 
many parts of Holland, the cultivated country is actually below the 
surface of the ocean at high tides, buch lands are defended against 
the waves by strong dykes or banks. At high tides, it is rational to 
suppose that these lauds would be affected. The farmers noticed it, 
and mistaking the cause, assigned to the moon the effects of the ocean. 
The industrious Hollanders have migrated to almost every nation on 
the globe. If the lands they cultivate, are thousands of feet above the 
highest tides, they observe the same signs and seasons, as did t'reir 
ancestors, who faithfully toiled below the waves. Marvellous ideas 
are most delightful to many minds. Those of the Hollanders have 
been embraced by many of various climes and languages, and the 
moon is indebted more to them for her power than to the Being wh« 
made it. 



180 

They say;, "When the moon is over or near 
the equator, the waters in high latitudes are at- 
tracted directly towards the moon, and the wa- 
ters are raised higher, because they move in a 
more horizontal direction; and subside as they 
eome more directly under the moon, which has 
not power to raise them perpendicularly. 

If this position was correct, the waters would 
be attracted from east and west in the same 
manner as from north to south, and at ninety 
degrees from a point directly under the moon^ 
the waters would be as much affected as at the 
poles. But the reply is made/ "That the con- 
tinents prevent this attraction from extending 
so far to the east and west, as to the north and 
south. " But the Pacific and Indian oceans ex- 
tend two hundred and thirty degrees; fifty de- 
grees more than half the circumference of the 
globe. This vast expanse of ocean would be 
as liable to be attracted from east and west, as 
the Atlantic or Pacific is from north to south. 

A further objection may* be made. "The 
fluids being colder towards the poles, press to- 
wards the equator where they are warm and 
lighter." 

But observations and facts have shown, that 
the current of the atmosphere is from east to 
west, and that it presses, the waters in the same 
direction. 



181 

If the tides are produced by the attraction 
of the moon, it is evident that on account of the 
situation of the continents, that the waters 
would be accumulated in some places much more 
than in others, as in extensive bays or gul^s 
opening into large oceans. This the Newtonian 
philosophers confess, and from this they at- 
tempt to explain the cause of there being such 
high tides in the bay of Fundy, in Bristol chan- 
nel, on the coasts of Malaya, at the mouth of 
the St. Lawrence, along the coast of China 
and Japan, in the sea of Bengal, and various 
other places. 

The bay of Fundy opens into the Atlantic 
ocean to the south-west. If the general pres- 
sure of the fluids is from the poles to the equa- 
tor, the waters by this pressure would not be 
driven into the bay of Fundy; for there is no ob- 
struction to their passage to the south till they 
reach South America. If the water subsided 
as it came to warmer regions, or more directly 
under the moon, they would not have flowed 
back to the north with such violence as to heap 
up the waters in that bay to the height of six- 
ty feet. 

In the gulf of St. Lawrence the tides are 
high. That gulf opens to the ocean to the 
east and north-east, and the island of New- 
foundland being situated directly opposite the 
16 



182 

mouth of the gulf, that the straits to it are so 
narrow, that in six hours the waters of the 
ocean could not press through the channels so 
as to raise the gulf so high as they appear. 

Bristol channel opens to the west, and the 
waters of the ocean must flow with great vio- 
lence to every point of the compass, to fill 
the bays and channels we have mentioned. 

To the east of Africa is a much greater ex- 
tent of ocean than to the east of Asia, yet on 
the coasts of the former the tides are not so high 
as those on the latter. The sea of Arabia 
opens into the Indian ocean with a much wider 
mouth than the sea of Bengal. Yet in the sea 
of Bengal, the tides are higher than in the sea 
of Arabia. 

If the tides are raised by the attraction of 
the moon, and the waters of certain bays are 
raised so much higher than the ocean by being 
forced into basins narrowing towards their 
head; why are not all bays which are situ- 
ated in a similar manner affected as much. 
Pamlico and Albermarle sounds open into the 
Atlantic by wider channels than the gulf of 
St. Lawrence, and the former are not so large 
bays as the latter that the waters would be 
more compressed in them than in that of the 
St. Lawrence; yet in Pamlico and Albermarle 



183 

sounds the tides rise but four or live feet, and 
in the St. Lawrence they are raised forty. 

The bay of Fundy opens into the same ocean 
and has a similar situation to the Delaware, 
yet the tides in the former are six times as high 
as in the latter. The same difference is ob- 
servable in numerous places. 

If the moon raises the waters by attraction, 
there is no bay or branch of the ocean so fa- 
vourably situated for an immense accumulation 
of the waters as the arm of the Atlantic which 
lies between North and South America. From 
cape Sable in North America to cape St. Roque 
in South America, a distance of nearly four 
thousand miles, the coasts are situated to bring 
the waters of the Atlantic to a point in the 
Caribbean sea and in the gulf of Mexico. Yet 
there the tides are not high. It will be ob- 
served, that the West India islands prevent 
the waters of the ocean from flowing in to fill 
the sea and gulf. If the waters of the ocean 
were obstructed by the islands they would be ac- 
cumulated on the east side of them; but the wa- 
ters are elevated there only a few feet; besides, 
there are more than twenty channels between 
the island to the interior basins, much wdder 
and deeper than either of the two which unite 
the gulf of St. Lawrence to the Atlantic ocean. 



184 

If the moon is the principal cause of the 
tides, or if the sun and moon, and all the hea- 
venly bodies combined raise the waters on the 
earth by attraction, there must be some more 
essential local causes to produce the effects 
which are witnessed. 

The sun and moon are so remote from the 
earth, that in comparison to their distance, the 
earth is but a point. Then all parts of the 
earth would be nearly equally affected by their 
influence, if affected at all by the law of at- 
traction. 

From these remarks we are led to conclude, 

First. That the moon is so small a body, and 
so remote from the earth, that it appears in- 
consistent to suppose that it w r ould have so 
much influence on the earth, as to raise and 
agitate the waters to such a degree as they 
are known to be affected. 

Second. Admitting the possibility that the 
sun and moon, by attraction, do raise the wa- 
ters, they would be raised and flow in differ- 
ent directions from what we see they do. 

Third. If a possibility of the sun and moon's 
raising the ocean existed, the tide would be 
highest, where now they are lowest, and low- 
est vvhere now they are raised to the greatest 
height. 



185 

With these conclusions, we will attempt to 
find some local causes, which, united with the 
influence of the sun and moon, are the princi- 
pal agents that produce the various phenome- 
na of the ocean. 

Explanation of the cause of the Tides. 

The atmosphere, as we have observed, is a 
fluid encompassing the earth, extending to the 
height of nearly forty-five miles from the 
earth's surface. This fluid presses, or is at- 
tracted towards the centre of the earth, with a 
weight equal to thirty-three solid feet of wa- 
ter. Or, the weight of the atmosphere on the 
surface of the land and water, is the same as 
would be the pressure, if on each part of the 
surface of the globe rested a column of water 
thirty-three feet in height. This is the com* 
mon pressure of the air on plains and on the 
ocean, seas, lakes, &c. On mountains the 
pressure is not so great, in vallies it is greater. 
The atmosphere does not press, at all times 
with equal force on the surface of the earth. 

1st. When the winds blow, it does not press 
so heavy as in an entire cairn. 

We suppose, for instance, a column of at- 
mosphere, one foot in diameter, to be equal in 
weight to a pillar of wood of the same diame- 
16* 



186 

A ter, one hundred feet long. That pillar stands 
perpendicularly on the surface of the earth. 
The weight of that pillar on the earth is as the 
pressure of the atmosphere on one square foot. 
If a force be applied to that pillar in a hori- 
zontal direction, it will not press so heavy on 
the surface, and the pressure towards the cen- 
tre of the earth, diminishes as the horizontal 
force increases. The same fact may be eluci- 
dated by a mill -stone, which, when in rapid 
motion, can be raised with less force than when 
at rest. And when the horizontal motion is so 
increased, that the projectile force is greater 
than the attraction of cohesion, the stone 
breaks. The pieces do not fall directly to the 
ground, but move in a horizontal direction. 

This position is easily demonstrated by ex- 
periment. Balance a pair of scales with a top 
in one side. Then put the top to whirling in 
the scale with the same weights in the other, 
and the scale will not be balanced till the top 
ceases to move. A ball on a horizontal plane, 
when struck horizontally, in its motion presses 
not on that plane so much as when at rest; and 
with the greater force it is struck, the less it 
presses on the plane. 

A running stream presses not so hard on its 
bottom, as a still pond of the same depth of 
water. 



187 

On the same principles, the atmosphere, 
when in a horizontal motion, presses not so 
heavy on the surface of the earth; and as the 
motion increases, the pressure decreases. Wit- 
ness a whirlwind. There the atmosphere re- 
ceives a horizontal impulse. By the pressure 
of the surrounding atmosphere, the motion is 
increased, till the atmosphere not only ceases 
to press on the earth, but rises from the sur- 
face; and not only does the atmosphere rise, 
but it raises many particles or bodies from the 
earth with it. 

2d. When the atmosphere is heated, it does 
not press so heavy on the surface of the earth 
as when cold. 

When the atmosphere is becoming warm, it 
presses less when at the same degree of tempe- 
rature, than when it is becoming cold. 

When there is sufficient heat to cause va- 
pours to rise, each ascending particle gives an 
impulse upwards to the particles which oppose 
its rise. When the atmosphere is cooling, and 
particle unites to particle and descends, the 
same impulse is given downwards as was up- 
wards when the vapour was rising. 

With these two general prepositions, com- 
bining in their effects, and with several local 
causes, which we trust will be proved to exist, 
we will attempt to explain the phenomena vf 



188 

the tides, and the various currents of the 
ocean. 

In attempting to explain the cause whose ef- 
fects were the appearance of dry land, we en- 
deavoured to show, that beneath the conti- 
nents, and such islands as have been raised 
from the ocean,* are vast caverns, or cavities, 
equal in extent to the matter which was eleva- 
ted. We suppose that these cavities, or most 
of them are filled with water as high as the 
common level of the oceans. Most of them 
have vast openings into the oceans, through 
which the waters flowed after the lands were 
raised, and when the waters of the ocean rece- 
ded. These openings were formed by the 
fragments of broken rocks, which support the 
elevated lands, not filling the numerous rents 
which were made in the various strata which 
were broken in their ascension, and the fissures 
w r hich were open in the strata, which were 
not elevated, and which support the arches on 
which most lands now rest. These communi- 
cations between the oceans, which enjoy the 
light of heaven and the subterranean seas, are 

* It will be remembered, that it has been stated, that many small 
islands, which appear in the different oceans, owe their existence to 
the coral. The} are readily distinguished from those which were 
raised by fire. The former have no mountains or hills resting on pri- 
mitive rocks. 



189 

deep beneath the surface of the waters, even to 
the bottom of the oceans. 

The cavities under the lands being filled 
with water no higher than the usual height of 
the oceans, have the remainder of the ca- 
verns filled with various gasses. These gasses 
since they were bound to their present limits, 
have been employed as active agents in produ- 
cing the tides. 

For perspicuity, we will compare the sub- 
terranean waters, and those on the surface of 
the globe, to a pair of scales, the communica- 
tion between them being the beam. As w T aters 
form a level, these scales would be completely 
balanced, were it not that the exterior atmos- 
phere varied in degrees of pressure on the ex- 
terior waters. 

When the atmosphere presses most on the 
ocean, then the exterior scale preponderates, 
and we have low tides, and then the interior 
is raised by the waters being pressed into the 
cavities. When the atmosphere is rarefied 
that it presses lighter on the ocean, then the 
interior scale is depressed, the waters are dri- 
ven from the subterraneous caverns, the ocean 
is raised, and we have high tides. The tides 
are high or low, in proportion to the conden- 
sation or rarefication of the atmosphere over 
the interior and exterior seas, and in propor- 



190 

tion to the extent of the waters to be raised or 
depressed. As these waters are alternately 
flowing through channels which run in differ- 
ent directions, they produce the numerous 
marine currents which prevail on the surface 
of our sphere. 

When we have examined the causes which 
vary the degrees of atmospheric pressure, we 
will compare the phenomena of the ocean with 
the effects which would be produced according 
to our theory. 

2 he causes which produce changes in the de- 
grees of pressure of the atmosphere. 

The causes which most affect the atmos- 
phere, are light and heat. We believe that 
these two causes produce all the phenomena of 
the atmosphere, and that heat is but an atten- 
dant of light, or an effect of which the former 
is the cause. 

Light is matter emitted from the sun, or 
other luminous bodies, and flows with incon- 
ceivable velocity in a direct line when moving 
in the same medium. But when it passes from 
one medium to another, it turns from a strait 
course, and when it strikes a denser medium, 
except on a surface at right angles, it inclines 
to a perpendicular to the surface. 



191 

Light passes from the sun to the earth in 
eight minutes. When light is obstructed by 
an opaque body, the rays are reflected, having 
the angle of reflection equal to the angle of in- 
cidence. Rays of light emitted from the sun 
reach the moon, and are reflected to the earth; 
in like manner we receive them from the other 
spheres which compose our system. Reflected 
light produces no perceptible heat. The light 
reflected from the moon affects our atmosphere 
in a small degree, perhaps compared with that 
of the sun in proportion to its quantity. The 
effect of this light is the only effect which the 
moon has on our waters. The reflected light 
of the moon sometimes coincides in its effects 
with that of the sun, and sometimes serves di- 
rectly to counteract the influence of the direct 
rays of the sun. 

When the rays of light pierce the atmos- 
phere perpendicularly to the surface of the 
earth at any place, the atmosphere is lighten- 
ed in that place by becoming warmer, accord- 
ing to our second proposition. But when it 
pierces the atmosphere at right angles to a line 
drawn perpendicular to any place, the force 
with which the rays move, lessens the pressure 
of the atmosphere over that place, according 
to our first proposition. Light flowing through 
the atmosphere in the last mentioned direction. 



192 

lessens its pressure more than in the former, 
and its influence diminishes, as its direction 
varies from a horizontal to a perpendicular di- 
rection. The effects of the light of the moon 
are similar, though their influence is less. 

When the light of the sun and moon pierce 
the atmosphere at right angles to each other, 
the rays counteract the force of each other, 
that the atmosphere is less affected. For in- 
stance, at first and last quarters of the moon. 
We suppose the sun is in the west, the moon 
has performed one quarter of her revolution 
and is at the meridian. The rays of light from 
the sun pass the atmosphere to the east over 
the Atlantic ocean, and lessen the pressure of 
the atmosphere there. The rays from the moon 
come from the south or from the meridian and 
striking perpendicularly on the rays of the sun, 
lessen their force without warming the atmos- 
phere, and in a degree destroy the effects of the 
rays from the sun on the columns of the atmos- 
phere. 

If a stream of water from the north moved 
with sufficient velocity to bear away an obstruc- 
tion, and just before it reached the object a 
stream of one-eighth part of the force should 
rush into the former from the west, one-six- 
teenth part of the force from the north would 



193 

be destroyed, and the obstruction would not be 
removed. 

The rays of light from the sun, and moon thus 
counteracting each other at first and last quar- 
ters of the moon, not so much lighten the at- 
mosphere at those particular times, that the 
pressure on the waters is great, the unrarefied 
air over the subterranean waters has not force 
to press so much of the hidden waters from 
their cells as to give a spring tide to the At- 
lantic. Hence, at first and last quarters of the 
moon neap or low tides are witnessed. 

At new moon the streams of light of the two 
orbs are not opposed to each other. The dark 
side of the moon is then towards the earth, that 
no light is reflected from it to our sphere. The 
light of the sun flows through the atmosphere 
of the earth unmolested, that fluid is rendered 
lighter by being rarefied and by the repelling 
torrent of light. Ocean feels relieved from his 
burden and presses not so forcibly on the pent 
up fluids. They struggle for liberty, and rush- 
ing from the gloomy caverns, roll their proud 
waves in the light of heaven. Thence is form- 
ed a high tide, by our two propositions. 

As the moon advances in her orbit, and the 

light is reflected to the earth each succeeding 

day in a less oblique direction to the rays of 

the sun, each flow of the waters diminish till 

17 



194 

the moon comes in quadrature, as has been 
explained and then the tides are at their low- 
est flow. After the moon has passed her quad- 
rature, and her light falls more and more ob- 
lique on that of the sun, the tides increase in 
height in the same ratio, and from the same 
cause they decreased when she was advancing 
to her quadrature. 

When the moon arrives at her full, or in 
opposition to the sun, then she sends forth 
most light to the earth, and the rays flowing 
in a line of direction with those of the sun, 
the light from both luminaries serve to break 
the force of the pressure of the atmosphere on 
the waters, and then again the scale, secluded 
from the light of day, preponderates, and the 
towering ocean invades his highest bounds. 
In this spring tide the principles of both pro- 
positions affect the atmosphere. 

The query will next arise, "Why the wa- 
ters are raised higher towards the poles, than 
o» or near the equator?" 

From the inclination of the axis of the 
earth, the ecliptic cuts the equator at angles of 
twenty-three degrees, twenty-eight minutes; 
that the sun is never vertical to any places 
more remote from the equator on either side 
than that distance; hence, in high latitudes the 
currents of light pierce the atmosphere in a 



195 

more horizontal direction. At the poles, when 
the sun is over the equator, the rays of light 
pass the poles in a line perpendicular to the 
axis of the earth, and, unobstructed, flow 
through the whole section of the air which co- 
vers the frigid zones. Hence the pressure of 
the atmosphere at both poles is lessened, and 
the chilled currents roll towards the equator. 

As the sun inclines to the north, and spreads 
his splendid beams wide around the frigid 
zone, and leaves the southern pole involved in 
frost and darkness, then the waters in Antarc- 
tic regions scarcely move their sluggish waves. 
While to the north, so long as the sun is ap- 
proaching the tropic of Cancer, the waters 
continue to increase in height at every 
flow. But as he begins to recede from 
northern regions, to pay his annual visits to 
southern climes, then the arctic waters, as if 
dreading the frosts and chilling blasts of win- 
ter, begin to retire to the frost secluded ca- 
verns. The southern waves then begin to tri- 
umph; and sport their summer month away. 

The waters in the northern regions rise to a 
greater height in summer, than those of the 
south in their benign seasons. 

To the north there is more land than to 
the south; that when the subterranean seas 
discharge their stores, the liberated torrent' 



196 

rise in mountainous heights. — While to the 
south, the vast expanse of ocean is less affect- 
ed by the scanty currents that are sent forth 
from the scattering lands. 

Having briefly sketched the effects which 
light and heat have on the atmosphere, and 
drawn some conclusions as they affect the 
tides and currents of the ocean, we will more 
particularly notice the effects which such cau- 
ses as we have named would have on the wa- 
ters, and compare them with effects which are 
known to exist. 

1st. If the flowing of the tides are produced 
by the waters of subterranean seas being 
forced from their caverns, and the ebbing oc- 
casioned by their receding again to their dis- 
mal cells, the waters would first begin to rise, 
and rise the highest near the lands from be- 
beath which the waters rushed; and near such 
coasts the tides would first begin to ebb.* 

That the tides are higher near coasts than 
at a distance from land, is a well known fact, 
related by the ablest navigators. 

2d. If the tides are produced by the above 
mentioned cause, the waters would rise higher 

* The waters would begin to ebb first at the shore, or near the 
channel which unites the interior and exterior waters. But as the 
current ot* waters, when ebbing, would be towards the shore, by an 
accumulation of waters against the shores, there they would be last in 
reaching their lowest state. 



197 

near the coasts of extensive and highly elevated 
lands, than by the shores of small islands; be- 
cause, under extensive lands, there are large 
seas to throw forth their waters to the light 
of day, and more confined air to drive the wa- 
ters from their secret retreats. 

In the Atlantic ocean, between North Ame- 
rica and Europe, where the eastern and west- 
ern continents ar& of the greatest width, the 
the tides are higher than in any other open 
ocean. In the Pacific ocean, where the great- 
est width of Asia is on the west, and the most 
extensive part of North America is on the east, 
the waters rise higher than in any other part 
of the Pacific ocean; and they decrease in 
height in proportion to the distance from either 
continent to the middle of the ocean. On the 
coasts of China and Tartary, they rise to a 
great height. At isle Necker, Wakes, and 
Sandwich isles, the rise of the waters are 
scarcely perceptible. On the west coast of 
North America, the tide rises in some places 
twenty feet; while at the islands remote from 
the continent, two feet is considered as a very 
high tide. 

3d. If our premises are correct, the narrow- 
er the channel between two lands, from beneath 
which the waters are propelled, the higher the 
waters would be raised in that channel. 
17* 



198 

Hence, the highest tides are in such situa- 
tions as the bay of Fundy, the gulf of St. Law- 
rence, the Bristol channel, straits of Malacca, 
the gulf of Siara, the sea of Bengal; and in many 
other straits, bays and gulfs. 

4th, If the cause of the phenomena of the 
ocean is such as we have supposed, there will 
be no tides in lakes, seas, or bays, between 
which, and the subterranean seas and bays, 
there is no communication. 

Hence there are no tides in most of the lakes, 
and in a number of seas and bays. The ba- 
sins of these do not extend so deep, or have no 
communication to the vast caverns filled with 
waters, impatient to come to light. 

The beds of most of these lakes, bays, and 
seas, were formed, as we have stated, by the 
currents of the general deluge, and other sub- 
sequent floods. The openings between them 
and the interior waters, have been closed by 
the subsidence of lands, or by alluvial forma- 
tions. 

The basins of the Baltic, Caspian, Black, 
and Aral seas, were formed by the currents 
pouring over the mountains to the west of 
them, and are only excavated in the crust of 
the earth, or in that part which was first 
raised from the bed of the deep. Their basins 
may have had communications with the inte- 



199 

rior caverns, and these passages be filled by 
the subsidence of some parts of the adjoining 
strata, or by alluvion deposited by the returning 
waves of the deluge. In the Mediterranean sea 
the tides rise a few feet. That sea has some com- 
munications with the caverns under Europe, or 
Africa, or both, from which sufficient waters are 
projected to produce the few and small cur- 
rents which agitate the waters, and cause them 
to rise in a small degree. The famous vortex 
of Scylla is one of these communications, and 
opening its devouring jaw r s nearer the surface 
of the waters than others, the agitation and 
whirlings of the waves have, from remote anti- 
quity, filled the minds of mariners with horror 
and consternation, and the inquiring minds 
with wonder and amazement. 

In the Red sea the tides are higher than in 
the Mediterranean, though its extent is not a 
a quarter so great. It will be said that it rises 
higher on account of its having a greater com- 
munication with the Indian ocean, than the 
Mediterranean has with the Atlantic. But 
that the waters in the Red sea, or of the north 
part of it, cannot be raised by the waters pres- 
sing in from the Indian ocean, will appear 
evident on examination. From the Indian 
ocean to the north end of the Red sea, is one 
thousand four hundred miles. To raise the 



200 

waters at the extreme part of that sea, the 
waters must flow the above distance in six 
hours, making the motion of the waters two 
hundred and thirty-one miles an hour, or about 
four miles a minute, which gives a velocity to 
water, that never was witnessed when it moves 
in a horizontal direction. 

Though the basin of the Red sea was form- 
ed by the current which rushed over the Ly- 
bian mountains during the deluge, yet there 
may be communications between that sea and 
subterranean caverns. Indeed the bed of the 
sea bears strong marks of this. On the east 
side the waters are shallow, on the w r est the 
coast is precipitate, and the waters are deep. 
When that sea rises, the waters do not rush 
from the straits of Babelmandel in a current, 
but rise as, near all coasts in a perpendicular 
direction, filled with bubbles, which are the 
gasses which press from their retreats the in- 
terior waves. 

The North and Irish seas were formerly by 
currents. They have such direct communica- 
tion with the Atlantic by such wide mouths or 
channels, that they may be raised by the wa- 
ters of the ocean, and from interior floods. 

Along the coasts of the United States, the 
tides are not so high as they are in Europe in 
the same latitude. If the moon raises the wa- 



201 

ters by attraction, this must be an unfathoma- 
ble mystery. But if our theory is correct, we 
can solve the cause without recourse to magic, 
and without plunging into the arcana of na- 
ture, or labyrinths of mystery. 

Most of the United States bordering on the 
coast of the Atlantic, is alluvion. Most of 
this alluvion rests on what was once the bot- 
tom of the ocean, and which was not elevated 
so high, if elevated at all, as to leave large 
openings between the ocean and the caverns 
from w T hence our mountains arose. Hence the 
communications between the interior and ex- 
terior waters, are so small, that the waters 
from within are not pressed out in such profu- 
sion as to cause our waters to rise to so great 
a height, as where there are less alluvial de- 
posits along the coasts. 

Hence we have a cause for the tides not 
rising so high in Pamlico and Albermarle 
sounds, as in the bay of Fundy, and the gulf 
of St. Lawrence. The former were preserved 
by the rivers from alluvial deposits which sur- 
round them. The latter are without alluvion, 
near them; that the channels between them and 
the subterranean waters are unobstructed. — 
The former receive no accumulation of waters 
but what is brought to them by the ocean; the 
latter receive the waters of the ocean, and a 



202 

far greater abundance from interior regions. 
Hence the waters in the former rise but four or 
five feet, while in the latter they are elevated 
from forty to sixty. Hence we have a cause 
for the tides flowing with foaming violence up 
many of the rivers in Europe, while, with but 
a steady current, they oppose the largest riv- 
ers in the United States. 

If the moon raises and agitates the waters of 
the Indian ocean, to such a degree as to cause 
them to retreat at the rate of two hundred and 
thirty miles an hour into the Red sea after 
winding their course through the straits of 
of Babelmandel, we would inquire, if it is not 
a mystery, why the waters of the Atlantic, in 
the same latitude, are not put in sufficient mo- 
tion to flow through the numerous direct chan- 
nels between the West India islands and fill 
the Caribbean sea and the gulf of Mexico? — 
According to the adopted theory, the cause is 
a mystery beyond the thoughts of mortals to 
fathom. But from the premises we have as- 
sumed, the cause appears plain and simple. 

If we were correct in our conjectures, that 
the range of West India islands was a part of 
the va3t range of mountains extending through 
North and South America, and that that be- 
tween the Alleghany and Andes, by its cum- 
brous weight, broke the shattered arches be- 



203 

neath, and sunk into the abyss from whence it 
was projected, most of the caverns were closed 
there. When the alluvion brought by the late in- 
undation from the north, was deposited on those 
islands, on the north coast of South America, 
on the east of Yucaton, &c. many of the sub- 
terranean channels were filled, that the Sow- 
ings of the interior waters are obstructed 
around that extensive branch of the oceans — 
Hence the tides there are lower than in most 
of the large bays on our sphere. 

Many lakes, springs, and wells, ebb and 
flow as regularly as the ocean. These bodies 
of water and fountains, by some chasms or 
chinks, have communication with interior 
ponds or lakes, which observe the same laws 
as those which cause the oceans to rise. 

The same may be observed of the wells 
which are sunk or bored in Ohio, Indiana, Il- 
linois, &c. for salt water. 

When the miners perforate the last stratum 
of rocks, before they come to the chasm which 
contains the object of their search, the waters 
suddenly rise many feet above the surface of 
the earth, and after the first impulse has sub- 
sided, the waters ebb and flow as regularly 
as the oce?n, though not at the same periods. 
The cause of these wells not flowing so fre- 
quently as the ocean, is obvious on reflection. 



204 

There are vast and winding caverns far be- 
low the surface of the earth. When the first 
vent or communication is made to these cav- 
erns, the waters, by the pressure of the in- 
cumbent gasses, are found to rise till the foun- 
tain is in a great degree exhausted, as is like- 
wise the rarer fluid which forced them to rise. 
The waters, by springs and subterranean rills, 
which have found a passage through mines of 
salt, again fill the chasm, compressing the in- 
cumbent air till it will yield no more; and as 
there is but one small aperture, the waters 
are forced up with more violence than if a 
greater vent was given, and it continues longer 
to rise, on account of the waters being constant- 
ly flowing into the reservoir beneath. 

5th. As there are some islands which have 
not been raised by fires, but have their bases 
formed by the industrious coral, from our 
premises we should conclude, that near the 
coasts of such islands, the tides would not rise 
so high as by those which are volcanic and 
have chasms beneath them. 

We have seen no accounts of navigators 
which particularly specify the height of the 
tides round the many islands which they have 
visted. But among the islands of Austral 
Asia, which, from their mountains and primi- 
tive roeks> are presumed to be volcanic, the 



205 

the tides are much higher than among the 
islands of Polynesia, some of which are coral. 
But the smallness of the islands of Polynesia, 
if they were all volcanic, would not have be- 
neath them caverns of sufficient extent to pour 
forth waters in sufficient quantities to raise, in 
any great degree, the expanse of ocean around 
them. 

The Carolinas and Ladrones appear, from 
their situation, to have been once united, and 
it is presumed, that they were all elevated at 
the same explosion or volcanic eruption; and 
when the propelling force subsided, they again 
sunk, as did the West India isles, almost fill- 
ing the caverns from which they were projected. 
The Pelew islands may have belonged to the 
same range. And it is not deemed presump- 
tion to suppose, that Asacides, Queen Char- 
lotte's, the Friendly, and Society islands, are 
but the summits of an extensive mass of matter 
once elevated from the depth of the ocean. — 
Lord Mulgrave's range, Barring's Musquito 
group, Tindall's, and Brown's range, are the 
remains of lands, whose foundations were not 
able to support them. The appearance of 
Fox islands indicates that they were the 
branch of a range of mountains, which projec- 
ted from the Stony mountains, but whose 
arches were not so constructed as to uphold 
18 



206 

them. All of the Sandwich isles may have 
received their birth at one time, and from 
the same cause now appear in separate piles. 
New Zealand, and the circumjacent isles, are 
presumed to have been brought to light by 
one impulse of nature. And many other clus- 
ters, which now appear as in scattered frag- 
ments of extensive lands, which by supreme 
command was caused to appear and settle in 
the same disorderly, but united ranges, by the 
same cause. 

If these numerous clusters of islands arose, 
as has been stated, and again sunk when the 
force which raised them ceased to operate, 
they must have nearly filled the chasms from 
whence they were thrown. Hence but small 
extents of waters could be beneath them, to 
cause the surrounding oceans to rise when the 
scales would preponderate in their favour. — 
And examine the reports of navigators, in 
regard to the height of the tides among these 
various clusters of islands. 

5th. If the tides are produced by subterra- 
nean waters being forced into the open ocean, 
we should suppose that there would be di- 
verse currents in the ocean, flowing in differ- 
ent directions as the channels run, through 
which the waters were propelled. 



207 

Most of the chasms or channels through 
which the subterranean waters flow, are so far 
beneath the surface of the ocean, that their 
influx appears only by the sudden rise of the 
oceans where their waters are discharged, and 
in the innumerable bubbles of air which have 
just escaped from the dreary caverns within ta 
the glorious light of the sun. 

But in the oceans are numerous currents 
flowing in every direction. In some parts of 
the ocean, where the surface is calm, deep 
currents flow to the north. In other places to 
the south, and to every point of the compass, 
according to the situation of the coast adjacent 
to which soundings are made. In some places 
where the surface or upper current moves to 
the north, a lower current runs to the south, 
and so in every direction. In the Mediterra- 
nean sea, many such currents have been dis- 
covered. Such currents would be expected, if 
the waters are flowing from, and receding to 
seas and lakes beneath the continents and 
islands. But if dame Luna causes and regu- 
lates the whole of them, she would have so 
much employment, that she could not affect so 
many brains as seem swayed by her influence. 

By the mouth of two or three witnesses, 
shall every word be established. In some 
places, the mouths of the chasms or channels 



208 

leading from the interior to the exterior floods, 
are so near the surface of the ocean, that the 
currents are perceptible. 

■•1st. Among the Orkney isles, there are two 
opposite currents when the tides are flowing. 
One runs from the north-west, and the other 
from the south east, and when they meet,"they 
dash their roaring billows up to the clouds, 
and convert the separating strait into an enor- 
mous mass of foam." It is evident that these 
currents must flow from subterranean caverns 
beneath the islands, and their outlets are op- 
posite to each other, and so near the surface, 
that their mists and spray are thrown high in 
the air. 

2d. The Maalstrom, a vast vortex in the At- 
lantic, west of Norw r ay, is our second witness. 
This vortex or whirlpool is several miles in di- 
ameter, and its current is so powerful, that 
when vessels or whales come within its influ- 
ence they cannot be rescued from its devouring 
jaws; and are immediately consigned to de- 
struction. When the tides rise again, their 
shattered remains or fragments are thrown out 
and cover the ocean. Had the mouth of this 
cavern been several hundred feet lower from 
the surface of the ocean, the whirl on the sur^ 
face would not have been produced, and thou- 



209 

sands, of greater extent than that, may exist too 
deep for human discovery. 

3d. The third witness is Scylla, which has 
been mentioned, whose devouring jaws cannot 
be better described than Virgil has done it. 

The sudden rise of waters during earth- 
quakes, induces us to believe that there are 
vast caverns filled with waters beneath lands, 
and that those waters are greatly agitated and 
driven from their retreats by an incumbent 
fluid,* during the convulsions of nature. 

The atmosphere filling the upper part of 
these caverns becomes rarefied; and struggling 
againat its barriers* bursts the solid strata which 
confine it, and torrents of waters are forced 
through the yawning chasms. At such periods 
though the exterior ocean is compressed to its 
lowest state, yet instantly it is compelled to 
flow, and waves in mountainous height are 
driven over lands far above the approach of 
the highest tides. In such calamities, cities 
have often been swallowed in the opening 
chasms, sunk with the lands on which they 
rested, or been overwhelmed by the irresisti- 
ble surges. At such a crisis vessels are driven 
from harbours, dashed against the precipices, 
or whirled by eddying billows over the remains 
of ruined cities. 



210 

There are phenomena of the oceans called 
counter tides. These are sudden rises of 
water near the coasts when the moon is in the 
opposite hemisphere, and when there is no 
appearance of earthquakes. 

These Sowings are occasioned by the atmos- 
phere in the caverns under such coasts becom- 
ing so rarefied as to press the waters from their 
retreats, but do not acquire force to shake and 
burst the surrounding strata. 

These are but a few of the phenomena of na- 
ture which are easily explained by the theory 
we have adopted, and which by former theories 
have been unaccounted far. 

If the moon occasions the tides by attrac- 
tion, these many phenomena remain as mys- 
teries. 

But, it will be observed, "there can be no 
doubt but the moon is the cause of the tides, 
because they flow so regularly with the moon, 
never varying more than an hour. The mo- 
tion of the moon, is an effect of the same cause, 
the sun, as the tides, and it cannot be surpris- 
ing that two effects of one cause should not es- 
sentially differ. Besides, would our limits per- 
mit, or would a further investigation of this 
subject be interesting, we would attempt to 
prove that were the tides produced by the at- 
traction of the moon, the time of high tides 



211 

would not so soon follow the moon's being at 
the meridian; and we would explain from our 
theory the cause of the tides being so regular, 

There are many other phenomena both of 
land and water, which go, as we conceive, di- 
rectly to prove the correctness of the positions 
we have taken. 

But it is believed, that enough has been said 
on each subject, to lead an unprejudiced mind 
to reflect for itself, and should more be requir- 
ed to convince the prejudiced, they may in fu- 
ture be accommodated. 



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